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Copyright N°_ V\jL. 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 







































































2 
















































MEEEIMEG 





By WILLIAM BOWEN 


The Enchanted Forest 

Illustrated by Maud and 
Miska Petersham 

ThS Old Tobacco Shop 

Illustrated by Reginald Birch 

SOLARIO THE TAILOR 

Illustrated hy J. Ormsbee 








THE TWO GNOMES LED MERRIMEG AWAY. 
















MERRIMEG 


BY 

WILLIAM BOWEN 

w 

Illustrated by 

EMMA BROCK 



> > > 

> J 

> ) > 


gotk 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1923 


All rights reserved 


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



COPTWGHT, 1923, 

Bt THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 


Set up and electrotyped. Published August, 1923. 


4 fc • 
ft 


SEP i rti 

© Cl A 7 5 912 7 


'WO 


( 



To 

Marjorie Ann 


































CONTENTS 


8T0RT 

(1) MERRIMEG AND THE 

(2) MERRIMEG AND THE 

(3) MERRIMEG AND THE 

(4) MERRIMEG AND THE 

(5) MERRIMEG AND THE 

(6) MERRIMEG AND THE 

(7) MERRIMEG AND THE 


CHIMNEY IMPS . . . 

PAGE 

3 

CLOP-CLOP SHOES . . 

29 

STARLIGHT FAIRIES . 

51 

ECHO DWARFS . . . 

75 

RAG-BONE MAN . ♦ . 

95 

APPLE-SEED ELF . . 

119 

MAY-DEW . 

141 





















ILLUSTRATIONS 


The two gnomes led Merrimeg away . Frontispiece 

“Bless my soul!” said one of the gnomes .13 

In front of them rose a great mountain of snow. Facing page 21 
The clop-clop shoes went on into the woods - Facing page 34 


Around the walls was a row of gray owls .41 

“Look!” she cried .58 

Upward through the water -. . . . Facing page 65 

“Oxtragob borgs, gooblik!” .79 


“How dare you say such a thing? How dare you?” . 

Facing page 82 

“Gimme a handkerchief , quick ” said the Bag-Bone Man 


Facing page 98 

“I can see her peeking in through the door ” .106 

Merrimeg was sitting in an apple tree .121 

The two gnomes followed him out of the door. Facing page 134 
“Have you got the May-dew?” .. 161 




















/ 











MERRIMEG AND THE CHIMNEY IMPS 




















MERRIMEG 


MERRIMEG AND THE CHIMNEY IMPS 

O NCE upon a time there was a little girl. 
Her name was Merrimeg. 

Sometimes she was good, and sometimes she 
was naughty. But she was always merry. 

One morning her mother gave her a little 
broom and told her to sweep the kitchen floor and 
her mother said, “Now, Merrimeg, be sure to 
sweep all the dust neatly into the dustpan, and 
carry it out to the cabbage garden. Will you 
do that*?” 

“Yes, mother,” said Merrimeg. 

“Don’t sweep any dust into the corners,” said 
her mother; and she left Merrimeg in the 
kitchen, and went into the front room to make 
the beds. 

Merrimeg swept and swept with her little 

3 



4 


MERRIMEG 


broom, and she made up a little song and sang 
it out loud, keeping time with the broom. 

Every little while her mother would call to her 

from the next room and say,- 

iL Have you finished yet, Merrimeg?” 

‘ i Not yet, mother!” Merrimeg would say, and 
then she would go on with her sweeping and 
singing. 

She was very happy, but this wasn’t her day 
to be good; for she was in a great hurry to be 
out in the garden in the sunshine, and she forgot 
all about what her mother had said to her; so 
instead of wasting time on the dustpan, she 
swept all the dust into the nice clean fireplace, 
a very large fireplace, big enough to roast a 
pig in. An iron pot was hanging there, but there 
wasn’t any fire, and her mother had just cleaned 
off the hearth so that it was as spotless as new 
brick. 

She swept the dust from under the table and 
chairs, and out of the corners, and everywhere. 
And every single bit of the dust she swept into 
the fireplace, and piled it up at the back on 



THE CHIMNEY IMPS 5 

the clean bricks, out of sight. And all the while 
she kept on singing. 

She was stooping down into the fireplace, 
with her head right at the back, under the chim¬ 



ney, when her mother called to her from the 

next room and said,- 

“Have you finished now, Merrimeg?” 

“Yes, mother!” said Merrimeg. “I’m going 
out into the garden now!” 

But she didn’t go out into the garden. In¬ 
stead of that,—just as she said, “I’m going out 



6 


MERRIMEG 


into the garden now,” whack! she was knocked 
against the iron pot, and bang! she was tossed 
against the back of the fireplace, and whoof! 
she was whirled up into that black dirty chimney 
like a leaf in a wind. 

And it was a wind, too! She was sucked up in 
a wind that was rushing up the chimney,—and 
such a wind! Never had she been caught in a 
wind like that, not even in the wildest March 
weather. Before she knew it, she was high up 
inside the chimney in the pitch dark, stuck fast, 
and the wind began to die down. 

“Mother!” she cried, at the top of her voice. 
But her mother couldn’t hear her; and all that 
Merrimeg heard was a sound as if a great many 
people were laughing at her, a long way off. 

It was pitch dark. But all around her, in the 
black soot of the chimney, were little sparks, like 
the sparks you see in the soot at the back of the 
fireplace when the fire is crackling on the hearth, 
—thousands of tiny sparks, and all of them get¬ 
ting dimmer as the wind died down more and 


more. 


THE CHIMNEY IMPS 


7 


Suddenly the wind sprang up again, stronger 
and stronger, and the harder the wind blew the 
brighter the sparks burned. Merrimeg had to 
hold on fast with her feet and back to keep from 
being blown out of the top of the chimney. 

She could see better now, and she saw what 
these sparks were. There were thousands of 
little black imps, sitting along the edges of the 
bricks in the walls of the chimney; and each 
spark was the head of a little black imp. She 
had to look close to see them, they were so tiny, 
but there they were, sure enough. She could 
hear them laughing, and it sounded as if a great 
crowd of grown-up people were laughing fit to 
kill, a long, long way off. 

Every one of them was holding in his hands a 
wee mite of a bag with two handles, and when he 
would press these handles together a strong wind 
would come out of the bag and blow on his head, 
and make it burn bright like a spark of fire; and 
when he stopped pressing the handles of his wind 
bag his head would grow dim again. They were 
working away at a great rate, keeping their 


8 


MERRIMEG 


heads alive, and the wind they made nearly blew 
Merrimeg up out of the chimney. 

She didn’t have much time to think about it, 
for all at once the imps stopped working at their 
wind bags, and the wind began to go down and 
their heads to grow dim, and before she knew 
what was coming Merrimeg felt these little imps, 
thousands of them, pounce on her, all over her, 
as thick as flies on honey, over her hair, and face, 
and arms, and legs, and dress, everywhere, and 
they were scratching and pinching, so that she 
screamed out in fright, and nearly fell down the 
chimney, for there was no wind now to hold her 
up. 

But just then, when all the sparks had nearly 
gone out, the terrible little creatures suddenly 
stopped scratching and pinching and began to 
pump away at their wind bags like mad; for in 
another second their sparks would have been 
out, and that would have been the end of 
them. 

That was what saved Merrimeg. The wind 
that sprang up from the wind bags was twice as 


THE CHIMNEY IMPS 


9 


strong as it has been before. It caught her, and 
tore her loose, and picked her up, and whirled 
her up the chimney, right up to the top of it and 
out. 

There she was, standing in the bright sun¬ 
shine, on the roof of her own house, looking 
down into the cabbage garden. 

It was a little house, only one story high, but 
it was too high for her to jump down to the 
ground; so she crawled to the edge of the roof, 
and sure enough there was the garden ladder 
standing against the front wall of the house, and 
it didn’t take her more than a minute to clamber 
down the ladder and run to the door. 

She knocked on the door and waited for her 
mother to let her in. 

The door opened, and her mother stood in the 
doorway looking at her. When she saw the 
little girl who was waiting on the step she raised 
both her hands in astonishment and opened her 
mouth wide. 

“Oh, mother!” cried Merrimeg. “Let me in, 
quick! I’m terrible sorry, and I’ve been up the 


10 


MERRIMEG 


chimney, and Ill never, never do so any more, 
indeed I won’t!” 

“Why, child,” said her mother, “who are 
youV’ 

“Let me in, mother!” 

“Who are you, child?” 

“Who am I? I’m Merrimeg, of course! Let 
me in!” 

Her mother laughed. “Merrimeg!” she 
cried, and laughed louder than before. “You! 
The idea! You must be crazy! Why, child, 
you’re as black as ink! My Merrimeg is as fair 
as a lily! I never saw you before!” 

“Oh, mother!” cried Merrimeg. “I’m not 
black. I’m Merrimeg, and I want to come 
in!” 

“Run away, child,” said her mother. “I’ve 
no time to bother with strange children now. 
Run away home to your mother. I’m too busy 
to bother with you now.” 

When she had said that, she went back into the 
house, and closed the door after her. Merrimeg 
knocked at the door again and again, but it was 


THE CHIMNEY IMPS 11 

no use. Her mother would not pay any 
attention. 

She cried to herself and walked away down 
the village street. No one knew her. She 
stopped two or three times, when she met chil¬ 
dren whom she knew, but they laughed at her 
and mocked her. They called her “Black face! 
Black face!” and she ran away. 

She came to the end of the village street and 
went into the woods. She sat down beside a pool 
of clear water, to rest. She looked down into 
the pool. She was black. 

Her dress was black too. Wherever the imps 
had touched her (and they had touched her all 
over) she was as black as chimney soot. She 
lay down on the grass and cried. 

Then she jumped up and stooped over the pool 
to wash her face in the clear water. She 
scrubbed her face hard, and looked at it again in 
the water; and then she cried again, harder than 
before. Her face was still black; it wouldn’t 
wash off! 

She went on further into the woods, and she 


12 


MERRIMEG 


really didn’t care what became of her; she 
wouldn’t care if she got lost and never came 
home any more; and if she never came home 
any more, oh! wouldn’t her mother be sorry! 
She stopped to cry for a few minutes, but she 
went on again pretty soon, and after a long, long 
while she found herself in a part of the woods 
where she had never been before. 

She came to a place where there was a great 
bank of bright green moss under the trees. It 
was higher in the middle, something like a roof, 
and it was very soft and cool-looking, and Merri- 
meg was very tired. 

She threw herself down on the bed of moss. 

“How soft it is!” she said to herself. 

As she said this, she sank down deep into the 
moss. Down she sank, deeper and deeper. She 
was frightened, and tried to jump up; but it was 
too late. The moss closed all over her, and she 
sank out of sight. She was gone. 

Where do you think she was ? She was in a 
little house under the ground. The moss was 
the roof of the house, and she fell right down 



“BLESS MY SOUL!” SAID ONE OF 
THE GNOMES 


































THE CHIMNEY IMPS 


15 


through it into a little kitchen, where two gnomes 
were sitting at a table eating their dinner. She 
sat down plump on the floor, and stared at the 
gnomes. 

“Bless my soul!” said one of the gnomes. 

“Bless my soul too, brother!” said the other 
gnome. 

“I’ll tell you what it is, brother Nibby,” said 
the first gnome, “the roof’s broken in again.” 

“I believe you’re right, brother Malkin, I be¬ 
lieve you’re right,” said the other gnome. 

“What’ll we do with her*?” said the gnome 
called Malkin. 

“Whatever you say, brother,” said the gnome 
called Nibby. “You always know best.” 

“She’s all black,” said the first gnome. 

“So she is, brother, so she is,” said the other 
gnome. 

“But not quite all black,” said the first gnome. 

“No, not quite,” said the other one. “How 
clever you are, brother Malkin. ’ ’ 

“I see a white place behind her ear,” said 
brother Malkin. 


16 


MERRIMEG 


44 There’s a white place behind her ear, sure 
enough,’ ’ said brother Nibby. 4 4 1 wouldn ’t have 
noticed it myself/ ’ 

44 Then why isn’t she white all over?” said 
brother Malkin. 

44 Ah! that’s the point!” said brother Nibby. 
44 Why isn’t she?” 

44 Because she’s never been thrown onto the 
Great Snow Mountain,” said Malkin. 

44 That’s it, that’s it, just what I was going to 
say,” said Nibby. 

44 Then we’d better throw her onto the Great 
Snow Mountain,” said Malkin. 

44 That’s a very clever idea, brother,” said 
Nibby. 44 I don’t know why I didn’t think of it 
myself.” 

44 But suppose she doesn’t want to be white?” 
said Malkin. 

4 4 That’s so,” said the other. 44 I never 
thought of that.” 

44 How will we find out?” said brother Malkin. 

44 That’s the trouble,” said Nibby. 44 How are 
we ever going to find out?” 


THE CHIMNEY IMPS 


17 


“How would it do to ask her ?” said Malkin. 

“That’s a very good idea,” said brother 
Nibby. ‘ i How you do think of things! ’ ’ 

“Which one of us had better ask her?” said 
Malkin. 

“Oh, that should be you, brother,” said Nibby. 

“I think you should be the one,” said Malkin. 

“Oh, no indeed, brother Malkin, no, no, no, 
no, no,-” 

“I’ll tell you!” cried Merrimeg, jumping to 
her feet, out of all patience with these gnomes. 
“I do want to be white! I do! I do!” 

“I believe she wants to be white,” said brother 
Malkin. 

“I’m pretty sure of it,” said Nibby. 

“Then you’d better tell her to come along with 
us,” said Malkin. 

“Oh dear no, brother, I think you should be 
the one to tell her,” said brother Nibby. 

“No, you should be the one,” said Malkin. 

“No, you, brother Malkin.” 

“No, no; you, brother Nibby.” 

“Goodness gracious me!” cried Merrimeg, 



18 


MERRIMEG 


more and more out of patience, “For mercy’s 
sake come along! Don’t let’s stay here talking 
all day! Let’s hurry, hurry! ’ ’ 

“She’s not very polite, brother,” said Malkin. 

“Not very, indeed,” said Nibby. “I noticed 
it myself.” 

Each of the gnomes took a lighted candle from 
the table; then they opened a door in the floor 
of the kitchen and went down a ladder, and 
Merrimeg went down after them. 

When they were at the bottom, in a dark 
tunnel, lit only by the candles carried by the 
gnomes, Malkin stopped and said: 

“We mustn’t forget to have that roof fixed.” 

“No, we mustn’t forget that,” said Nibby. 

“Oh, bother the roof,” said Merrimeg to her¬ 
self. “I wish we would get on.” 

“Did you hear what she said?” said Malkin. 
“It sounded to me like something rude.” 

“That’s the way it sounded to me, too,” said 
Nibby. 

“I think we ought to ask her if she’s rude or 
not,” said Malkin. 


THE CHIMNEY IMPS 


19 


“Yes, we ought to know that,” said Nibby. 

“Because if she is, we oughtn’t to be out alone 
in the dark with her, ’ ’ said Malkin. 

“No,” said Nibby, “it wouldn’t be safe.” 

“Then suppose you ask her if she’s rude,” 
said Malkin. 

“You’re the one to ask her, brother,” said 
Nibby. 

“Oh, dear me!” said Merrimeg. “You don’t 
need to ask me. I’m not rude. Only sometimes 
maybe I am, but I don’t mean it, and I wish 
you’d please hurry.” 

“I guess it’s all right, brother Nibby,” said 
Malkin. 

They came to a stream of water, flowing along 
underground in the dark, and a little boat was 
tied to a stake in the stream. Merrimeg sat 
down at the back end of the boat, and the two 
gnomes sat down before her, each one with a 
paddle in his hand. The paddles began to dip in 
the water, and the little boat began to go swiftly 
up the stream. 

“A little faster, brother,” said Malkin. 


20 


MERRIMEG 


“Very good, brother, very good,” said Nibby. 

With that, they began to paddle so fast that 
Merrimeg positively could not see their paddles, 
and the candles went out, and then she could not 
see anything at all. She felt that she was rush¬ 
ing along like lightning, and she had to hold on 
to the sides of the boat. 

“It’s getting colder now,” said Malkin. 

“So it is, brother, so it is,” said Nibby. 

Merrimeg was so cold by this time that her 
teeth chattered. 

“We ought to have asked her if she’d mind 
being cold,” said Malkin. “We forgot to ask 
her that.” 

“Yes, we forgot to ask her that,” said Nibby. 
“But it’s too late now.” 

Merrimeg’s legs and arms were nearly frozen. 
They were so stiff that she could not move them. 
She thought that she was freezing to death. 

“We’re going up now,” said Malkin. 

“We are, sure enough, brother,” said Nibby. 

“Now for a good push up over the waterfall, 
and we’ll be there,” said Malkin. 





IN FRONT OF THEM ROSE A GREAT MOUNTAIN OF 

SNOW. . . . 



















































THE CHIMNEY IMPS 


21 


“Yes, now for a good push,” said Nibby. 

They were going up and up, and Merrimeg 
was getting stiffer and stiff er. She couldn’t 
move at all by this time. 

A great roar of falling water came to her from 
just ahead, and “Now!” cried Malkin, and “All 
right!” cried Nibby, and the boat turned straight 
up and climbed the side of the waterfall like 
an arrow, with the gnomes paddling for dear 
life. 

“Here we are!” cried Malkin, and “Here we 
are, brother!” cried Nibby, and they came out 
of the side of the earth and paddled on quietly 
up the stream through a wide field of ice under a 
dark cloudy sky. 

In front of them rose the top of a great moun¬ 
tain of snow. 

“I don’t believe she can move,” said Malkin. 

“I’m pretty sure she can’t,” said Nibby. 

The boat stopped, and the gnomes got out on 
the ice and lifted out Merrimeg between them. 
She could hear and see, but she was frozen so 
stiff that she could not move. 


22 


MERRIMEG 


“Do you think we can throw that far?” said 
Malkin. 

“You’re so strong, brother, you’re so strong,” 
said Nibby. 

“Then let’s try it,” said Malkin. 

They looked over at the top of the Great Snow 
Mountain, and picked Merrimeg up and swung 
her back and forth several times. Then Malkin 
cried “Now!” and they gave her a mighty toss 
and fling and away she flew through the air 
towards the mountain of snow; and she lit on the 
very top of it, and sank down and down in the 
soft snow until she was out of sight. 

“We mustn’t forget to fix the roof,” said Mal¬ 
kin. “We’d better put some boards under the 
moss.” 

“I suppose so, brother; you always know 
best,” said Nibby. 

“Then let’s go home and attend to it,” said 
Malkin. 

Up on the mountain top, Merrimeg sank down 
deeper and deeper into the soft snow. It seemed 
to her that she was falling for hours, and that she 


THE CHIMNEY IMPS 


23 


would never come to the bottom; but at last she 
broke through the bottom of the snow, and 
underneath was a dark river, and in it were float¬ 
ing blocks of thick ice, and Merrimeg dropped 
right onto one of these blocks of ice as it was 
going along under her, and it carried her away 
down the dark stream, with a roof of snow over 
her head. Then she grew so dizzy that she really 
didn’t know anything for a long time. 

When she came to herself, she was floating 
along quietly on her block of ice through the 
woods, and the sun was shining and the birds 
were singing; and the ice had melted away so 
much that it would scarcely hold her. It was 
only a thin film under her, and she was getting 
wetter and wetter; and in another moment the 
ice struck a stone in the bottom and broke, and 
she was standing in the water up to her 
knees. 

The water was cool and pleasant, and she was 
surprised to find that she wasn’t cold any longer, 
and that she could move as well as ever. She 
waded to the shore and walked on into the woods; 


24 


MERRIMEG 


and she had not walked very far when she saw a 
bright green patch of moss under the trees. She 
knew that it was the roof of the gnomes’ house, 
and she wanted to see them again, for she was 
afraid she hadn’t been very polite to them, and 
she knew she ought to thank them. She threw 
herself down on the bed of moss, but it wouldn’t 
give way under her. The gnomes must have put 
something strong underneath to hold it up. 
Anyway, she couldn’t break through. 

She knew where she was now, and it didn’t 
take her long to reach the pool where she had 
tried to wash the black off her face. She stooped 
down over the pool and looked at herself in the 
clear water. 

She was fair as a lily, and her cheeks were red 
as roses. 

She jumped up singing and ran towards the 
village where she lived. 

As she skipped down the village street, she was 
singing over and over again, “The mountain has 
made me white again! The mountain has made 
me white again! ’ ’ And all the children playing 


THE CHIMNEY IMPS 


25 


in the street stopped to stare at her, wondering 
what she meant, and some of them called after 
her, “Merrimeg! Merrimeg!” But she paid no 
attention. She ran home, skipping and dancing, 
and hurried through the cabbage garden and in 
at the kitchen door. Her little broom was lying 
on the floor where she had left it. At the back of 
the fireplace was the pile of dust, exactly where 
she had swept it. She thought it was queer that 
the wind which had drawn her up the chim¬ 
ney hadn’t blown away the dust; but there 
it was. Probably those chimney imps wanted 
to leave it where her mother would be sure to 
see it. 

She snatched up the broom and swept the dust 
into the dustpan, and you can believe that she 
didn’t put her head into the fireplace, either; 
she reached in and swept the dust out into the 
dustpan and carried it out to the cabbage garden 
and emptied it. And as she came back into the 
kitchen her mother came in from the front room 
and said,- 

i 6 Oh, here you are. Where have you been so 



26 


MERRIMEG 


long? While you were out there was a funny 
little black girl who came to the door and said 
she was Merrimeg! ’ ’ 

“Yes’m,” said Merrimeg. 



MEBRIMEG AND THE 
CLOP-CLOP SHOES 


\ 














MERRIMEG AND THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES 


I T was Sunday morning, and Merrimeg was 
always good on Sunday. 

Everybody was in church,—everybody but 
Merrimeg. Her mother had let her stay at home 
as a reward, because she had done her sweeping 
so neatly. 

The house was empty, and there was not a soul 
in the village street. 

Merrimeg was sitting at the front window, 
looking at pictures in a book and telling herself 
stories about them. Sometimes she would gaze 
out of the open window at the sunshine. 

After a while she stopped talking to herself, 
and looked up and listened. She was sure that 
she heard a sound in the street. It was a kind of 
clop-clop! and it seemed to be coming nearer. 
She peeped around the corner of the window 
and looked out. 


29 



30 


MERRIMEG 


Two pairs of wooden shoes, quite small, were 
coming down the street side by side, towards her 
house. Each pair of wooden shoes was walking 
along in the usual way, but the astonishing thing 
was that there were no feet in them. There was 
nobody at all in them. They were walking along 
all by themselves. 

Merrimeg opened her eyes wide. She had 
never seen such a sight as that before. Clop- 
clop ! went the wooden shoes on the hard ground, 
just as if two people were stepping down the 
street. But no, there was nothing anywhere in 
the street but those two pairs of shoes, coming 
along clop-clop! 

Merrimeg held her breath and watched to see 
the shoes go by her window. Clop-clop! they 
came, sounding plainer and plainer; clop-clop! 
right up to the door of her house; and when they 
came to the door, there they stopped. 

Merrimeg drew her head back a little, getting 
ready to run if she had to, but she watched them 
with both eyes. 

“I think this is a house,” said a voice. 


THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES 


31 


“I believe it is, brother, I believe it is,” said 
another voice. 

Merrimeg looked all around, but she could see 
nobody. The voices seemed to be coming from 
the spot where the shoes were standing. 

“What if she should be cross to-day?” said the 
first voice. 

“Then she wouldn’t help us, brother,” said the 
other voice, “and what on earth would we do 
then?” 

“But it’s Sunday,” said the first voice, “and 
they aren’t cross on Sunday, hardly ever.” 

“That’s so, brother, that’s so,” said the other 
voice. “You do think of everything.” 

“How would it do to knock?” said the first 
voice. 

“I was just thinking about that myself,” said 
the other voice. 

Merrimeg was listening with both ears, and 
she heard, as plain as could be, three knocks on 
the front door; but what it was that was knock¬ 
ing at the door, she couldn’t see. All that 
she could see was that two pairs of wooden 


32 MERRIMEG 

shoes moved up onto the doorstep, and stood 
there. 

While she was wondering about it the knock 
sounded again, and without stopping to think 
any more she jumped up and ran to the door and 
opened it, not very wide, and looked down at the 
shoes. 

“It’s herself, brother Nibby,” said a voice in 
the doorway. 

“So it is, brother Malkin, so it is,” said the 
other voice. 

“Why, it’s the two gnomes!” cried Merrimeg. 
“But where are you?” 

“She can’t see us, of course,” said the first 
voice. 

“No, of course not,” said the second voice. 
“I forgot that.” 

“If you’re there,” said Merrimeg, “come in!” 
and she opened the door wide. 

The two pairs of shoes stepped into the room, 
and stood with their toes towards Merrimeg. 

“Do you suppose she’ll be willing to help us?” 
said the voice of Malkin the gnome. 


THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES 33 

4 ‘Just what I’m wondering, brother,” said the 
voice of Nibby. 

“Of course I’ll help you!” said Merrimeg. 
“What’s the matter?” 

“She’s pretty good to-day,” said Malkin’s 
voice. 

“I can see that, brother,” said Nibby’s 
voice. 

“I can’t see anything at all!” cried Merrimeg. 
“Where are you, anyway? Are you here, or 
where ? ’ ’ 

“Of course she doesn’t know what the witch 
has done to us, ’ ’ said the voice of Malkin. 

“No, she doesn’t know that the witch has taken 
away our bodies,” said the voice of Nibby. 

“And we want to get them back,” said Mal¬ 
kin’s voice. 

“And we want her to help us,” said Nibby’s 
voice. 

“It’s a frightful nuisance being without a 
body,” said Malkin’s voice. 

“She ought to know that without being told, I 
should think,” said Nibby’s voice. 


34 


MERRIMEG 


4 4 How can I help you ? ’’ said Merrimeg. 4 4 1 ’ll 
do anything I can.” 

44 She isn’t cross at all to-day,” said Malkin’s 
voice. 

44 No, it’s Sunday,” said Nibby’s voice. 

44 She’d better come along with us at once, 
then,” said Malkin’s voice. 

4 4 Yes,” said Nibby’s voice, 4 4 they’ll throw our 
bodies down the well if we don’t hurry.” 

44 Suppose you tell her, then.” 

44 Oh, no, brother, you're the one to tell her.” 

4 4 Oh dear no, brother Nibby, you are the one 


44 1’ll come!” said Merrimeg. 4 4 Never mind 
telling me. Go ahead, and I’ll follow you!” 

The two pairs of wooden shoes turned and 
went out of the open door, and Merrimeg fol¬ 
lowed them as they went clop-clopping down the 
street. 

They left the village and went into the woods. 
They found a path which Merrimeg had never 
seen before, and they walked along this path, 
under the trees and bushes, and across little 




THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES WENT ON INTO THE 

WOODS 























































































THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES 


35 


streams, for a long, long time; and the woods 
grew thicker and thicker, so that at last they 
could not see the sun, and it was very dark; and 
all the while the two pairs of little shoes went on 
before, and Merrimeg followed behind. 

“I suppose we’d better tell her the right word 
now,” said the voice of Malkin, “before we meet 
old Verbum Sap.” 

“Yes, before we meet old Sappy,” said Nibby’s 
voice. 

“Dear me!” said Malkin’s voice. “Blest if 
I haven’t forgotten the word myself!” 

“Oh, mercy on us, whatever will we do now?” 
said Nibby’s voice. 

4 ‘ Oh dear, oh dear! ’ ’ said Malkin’s voice. 4 ‘ If 
I could only remember the word! Isn’t it some¬ 
thing like cat-tails?” 

“No, no, brother, nothing like that!” 

“Can’t you remember the word, brother 
Nibby?” 

“Oh, me? Oh dear yes, brother, I know what 
the word is. But you've forgotten it, brother 
Malkin! Whatever shall we do now? We’ll 


36 MERRIMEG 

never get our bodies back without the word, 
never, never! ’ ’ 

“But don’t you know what it is, brother 
Nibby?” 

“Oh yes, brother Malkin, but what good will 
that do, if you don’t know what it is?” 

“That’s so, that’s so. I never thought of that 
Oh dear me, I’m sure I don’t know what we’re 
going to do about it. ’ ’ 

Merrimeg very nearly lost all patience at 
this. 

“Why don’t you tell him what it is, then?” she 
said. 

“I do hope she isn’t going to be cross,” said 
Malkin’s voice. “But anyway, that’s a pretty 
good idea. Suppose you tell me what the word 
is? Isn’t it something like cat-tails?” 

“Nothing like that, brother, nothing like 
that!” 

“What is it, then?” 

“It’s kitten-tails!” 

“Then we’d better tell her now, before old 
Sappy comes up, so she’ll know the word.” 


THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES 


37 


“ Which one of us had better tell her ?” 

“I think yon should be the one to tell her, 
brother Nibby-” 

“Oh bother!” said Merrimeg. “I know 
what the word is now. It’s kitten-tails.’’ 

“She’s getting cross, she’s getting cross, 
brother Nibby,” said Malkin’s voice. “Do you 
think we’d better go back ? ’ ’ 

“I’m not cross,’’ said Merrimeg. 44 Please ex¬ 
cuse me. I won’t speak so any more.” 

“I believe it’s all right, brother Nibby,” said 
Malkin’s voice. 44 Now you’d better tell her 
about the word. Whatever they say to her, she 
must use that word, and she mustn’t use any 
other; tell her that, brother Nibby. She mustn’t 
say anything else to them, because if she does 
they’ll take her body away from her too, and 
we’ll never get our bodies back; tell her that, 
brother Nibby. And we mustn’t speak at all, 
because that would spoil everything. And what¬ 
ever she does, she mustn’t let them take her shoes 
off. Tell her, brother.” 

“Excuse me,” said Merrimeg, very politely* 



38 MERRIMEG 

“I heard what you said, so he needn’t tell me, if 
you please.” 

“Now that’s what I call very clever of her,” 
said Malkin’s voice. 

“Very, very,” said Nibby’s voice. 

In a few minutes they came to a place where 
the vines and brambles hung down so low over 
the path that Merrimeg had to crawl on her 
hands and knees; and just then Malkin said, in 
a very low voice: 

“There’s old Sappy.” 

Right in the middle of the path before them 
stood a great gray owl, staring at them with his 
big round eyes. The shoes stopped still, and 
Merrimeg sat up on her heels. The owl seemed 
to be staring straight at her. He opened his 
beak, and a hoarse voice came out of his mouth, 
sounding as if he had a bad cold, and the voice 
said: 

“What do you want here, child?” 

“Kitten-tails,” said Merrimeg, remembering 
that she wasn’t on any account to say anything 
else. 


THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES 


39 


The owl ruffled his feathers and winked one of 
his eyes, very slowly. He stared at Merrimeg 
for a moment, then he turned around and walked 
off down the path before them. The wooden 
shoes stepped along after him, and Merrimeg 
followed on her hands and knees. 

Old Sappy, if that was his name, led them a 
long way under the vines and brambles, and 
stopped at the end of the path before a green 
wall of leaves, very tall, made of vines matted 
thick together. At the bottom of this leafy wall 
was a little opening, and after looking behind 
him for a moment old Sappy went in, and after 
him stepped the two pairs of shoes, and last of 
all in crawled Merrimeg. 

When she was inside, she stood up. She was 
standing on a floor which looked like green 
marble, very hard and shiny, and as she moved 
her feet on it her shoes began to pinch her feet 
painfully. All around her, in a circle, was the 
high wall of green leaves, and overhead the 
branches of the trees hung down, making a green 
roof. 


40 


MERRIMEG 


On one of these branches was perched a great 
black ugly bird, very like a buzzard. Its little 
sharp eyes were looking hard at Merrimeg. 

Around the walls, on the ground, was a row of 
gray owls,—dozens of them, all staring at Merri¬ 
meg with their big round eyes. 

In the middle of the floor was a dark opening, 
like the mouth of a well; and alongside of it were 
lying the bodies of the two gnomes, on their 
backs, with their eyes closed. They had no shoes 
on their feet. The two pairs of wooden shoes 
walked across the floor and stood beside the 
bodies. 

Old Sappy stopped beside the well and looked 
up at the ugly black bird over his head, and 
ruffled his feathers as if he were shivering. 

The bird overhead perked its head down side- 
wise, and gave a croak and said: 

“It’s nearly time!” 

“Time for what? Time for what?” croaked 
all the owls together. 

“Time to put the bodies in the well!” said the 
ugly bird. 



AROUND THE WALLS WAS A ROW 
OF GRAY OWLS 



























































































































THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES 43 

“What shall we do first?” said the owls 
together. 

“Get me another body for the well!” said the 
bird overhead. 

“There are only two bodies!” sang out the 
owls. 

“I see another, I see another!” said the bird 
on the branch. 

Then the bird in the tree began to croak and 
grumble to itself, and old Sappy stared at Merri- 
meg and said: 

“What must she do?” 

“She must come to the well!” said all the owls 
together. 

“How must she come?” 

‘ 4 She must walk! She must walk! ’ ’ 

“Who’ll take off her shoes?” said old Sappy. 

“We will, we will!” cried all the owls together, 
and they all ran towards her, opening their beaks 
and squawking as they crowded in around her 
feet. 

But Merrimeg kicked out right and left and 
scattered them in every direction. She found 


44 


MERRIMEG 


herself standing before the well and the ugly 
black bird overhead gave an angry screech. 

4 ‘What shall we do with her?” said old 
Sappy. 

‘ ‘ The riddle! The riddle! ’ ’ screamed the ugly 
black bird overhead. 

“The riddle! The riddle!” sang out all the 
owls together. 

“Answer the riddle!” said old Sappy. But 
as he said it he gave a slow wink with his right 
eye. “Answer the riddle, and answer it right! 
Or else,—or else,—off come your shoes, off come 
your shoes!” 

“What is the riddle?” cried all the owls. 

“This is the riddle, and answer it right,” said 
old Sappy. “What is it that has no feet and 
runs away on four feet and is chased by the same 
four feet, and lives on food and drink and never 
eats nor drinks?” 

“What is it? What is it?” croaked all the 
owls. 

“Kitten-tails!” said Merrimeg, sobbing with 
fright as she said it. 


THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES 


45 


The black bird overhead gave a piercing 
scream, spread its wings, and tried to fly away. 
But before it could fly, while it was flapping and 
struggling, a change came over it, and in its place 
was a horrible little old woman, hanging on to 
the branch and kicking and screaming, and try¬ 
ing to keep from falling down out of the tree. 
She was much heavier than the bird had been, 
and the branch was not strong enough to bear 
her; it snapped in half under her, and down she 
fell, still kicking, directly into the opening of 
the well. She was gone. 

Merrimeg heard a splash far down in the well, 
and at the same time the green walls disap¬ 
peared, and the well-opening was covered over, 
and the green marble floor turned into soft 
green moss, raised in the middle like a roof, and 
the owls flew away among the trees. 

Merrimeg looked down at the bodies of the 
two gnomes, lying on the bright green moss. One 
of them opened his eyes and yawned and 
stretched his arms; and the other yawned and 
stretched his arms and opened his eyes; and they 


46 MERRIMEG 

both got up together, and looked down at their 
feet. 

“I suppose we’d better put on our shoes,” said 
one of them. 

'‘I suppose we had, brother,” said the other 
one. 

They put on their wooden shoes quickly, and 
then they noticed Merrimeg. 



“Oh, yes,” said one of the gnomes, “I re¬ 
member everything now. Brother Nibby, we 
ought to thank her for helping us get our bodies 
back.” 

“That we ought, brother, that we ought, in¬ 
deed,” said Nibby. 

“Which one of us should tell her?” said 
Malkin. 

“I think you could do it much better,” said 
Nibby. “You’re always so clever.” 


THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES 47 

“Please don’t bother about thanking me,” said 
Merrimeg. “I’m so glad I could help you.” 

“Really, she isn’t rude at all to-day,” said 
Malkin. 

“Not a bit, brother Malkin, not a bit,” said 
Nibby. 

“Then we’d better go home,” said Malkin. 
“Why, bless me, we’re home right now! This is 
the roof of our own house!” 

“Now it’s queer I didn’t notice that before,” 
said Nibby. “How you do notice everything, 
brother!” 

“Good-by,” said Merrimeg. “I must get 
home before mother comes back from church. 
Good-by. ’ ’ 

“Brother Nibby,” said Malkin, “will you ask 
her to stay and have dinner with us in our own 
house?” 

“I’m sorry,” said Merrimeg, “but I can’t 
stay now. Thank you ever so much. I must 
hurry home. Good-by. ’ ’ 

She didn’t wait for an answer. Away she ran, 
and it wasn’t very long before she was in the 


48 


MERRIMEG 


village street again. In a few minutes she was 
sitting quietly at the front window of her house 
with the picture book on her knee, and there she 
was sitting when her mother came home from 
church. 

“That’s what I call a good little girl,” said 
her mother, “—sitting there quietly with your 
book, just as I left you.” 

“Yes’m,” said Merrimeg. 



MERRIMEG AND THE STARLIGHT 

FAIRIES 




























MERR1MEG AND THE STARLIGHT 

FAIRIES 


M ERRIMEG was asleep in her little bed, 
and Merrimeg’s mother was asleep in 
her big bed. 

It was late at night, and everybody in the 
village was asleep. All the houses were dark, 
and the stars were shining overhead. 

Merrimeg woke up, and listened. She thought 
she heard a sound as if someone were crying. 

She got up out of bed in her white nightgown, 
and tiptoed over to her mother and looked at 
her. Her mother was fast asleep, but she still 
heard the sound of crying. 

She decided that it must be outside in the 
street, so she opened the front door and peeped 
out. 

In the street before the door were three beau¬ 
tiful children, and one of them was crying. 

51 


52 


MERRIMEG 


They were all of about the same size as Merri- 
meg, and they were dressed in long dark blue 
gowns, fine as spider webs, which rippled around 
them in the cool air. They were barefoot and 
bareheaded. Each one had long black hair 
streaming down to her waist, and a pair of great 
wide wings standing out straight from her 
shoulders, like the wings of an enormous butter¬ 
fly, all blue and silver. 

One of the children had her arms about the 
one who was crying. They all looked up at 
Merrimeg as she opened the door. 

“You’re Merrimeg, aren’t you'?” said the one 
who had her arms about the other. 

Merrimeg stepped out into the street under 
the stars. 

“Yes,” said she. “What is she crying about? 
Are you lost?” 

“You’d—better—tell her—who we are, Pen- 
nie,” said the one who had been crying, choking 
back her sobs. 

“We aren’t lost,” said the one who hadn’t yet 
spoken. “We’re looking for our star.” 


THE STARLIGHT FAIRIES 53 


“We’ve lost it,” said the one who had been 
crying, breaking out into sobs again. 

“Don’t cry, Winnie,” said the one who had 
her arms about her. “She’ll help us find it, I 
know she will.” 

“Why is she crying'?” said Merrimeg again. 

“She’s Winnie, and I’m Florrie,” said the 
one who had just spoken, “and this one’s Pen- 
nie. Don’t you know who we are?” 

“No,” said Merrimeg. 

“We’re the starlight fairies,” said Florrie. 
“Now do you know?” 

“No,” said Merrimeg. 

“I thought everybody knew,” said Florrie. 
“Every evening at dark we fly along the sky 
up there and hang out the stars. Haven’t you 
ever seen us?” 

“No,” said Merrimeg. 

“I suppose they can’t see us from down here, 
and we’ve never been away from the stars 
before.” 

“I wish we’d never come,” said Winnie, cry¬ 
ing again. 


54 


MERRIMEG 


“I’ll tell you,” said Pennie. “To-night we 
were hanging out the stars, and Winnie—poor 
Winnie!” 

“I didn’t mean to,” sobbed Winnie. “I didn’t 
mean to!” 

“What did she do?” said Merrimeg. 

“She dropped one of her stars,” said Pennie. 

“It’s gone!” sobbed Winnie. “And I can’t 
go back without it!” 

“It fell and fell and fell and fell,” said Flor- 
rie, “and then we couldn’t see it any more. It 
dropped down here, somewhere near here, we’re 
sure of it.” 

“Do you see up there?” said Pennie. “Up 
there where there’s a wide dark space between 
the stars?” She pointed to the sky, directly 
overhead. There was a space there, about as big 
as a blanket, without any star. 

“Yes, I see,” said Merrimeg. 

“That’s where the star belongs,” said Pennie. 

“We’ll never find it!” said Winnie, putting 
her face down on Florrie’s shoulder. 

“I’m sure we shall,” said Florrie, “if Merri- 



THE STARLIGHT FAIRIES 55 


meg will only help us. We don’t know any¬ 
thing about this dreadful earth place, but she 
knows.” 

“Will you help us?” said Pennie. 

“If I can,” said Merrimeg. 

“Then come along,” said Pennie. 

“Can’t I put on my clothes first?” said 
Merrimeg. 

“There’s no time,” said Pennie. “Suppose 
daylight should come before we find it? What 
would we do?” 

“Let’s go, then,” said Florrie; and she moved 
away lightly down the street, drawing Winnie 
along by the hand, their wings waving gently in 
the air. 

“Where shall we go?” said Pennie. 

A thought came into Merrimeg’s mind. She 
would take them to the gnomes’ house, and the 
two brothers would surely tell them how to find 
the star. 

“I’ll take you,” said she, pushing on ahead 
towards the woods beyond the village. She was 
used to going barefoot, and she didn’t mind the 



56 


MERRIMEG 


rough ground. It was a warm night, and she 
soon forgot that she was only in her nightgown. 

They went into the woods. 

“It’s so gloomy,” said Winnie, in a whisper. 
“I don’t like these strange earth places. I wish 
we were at home among the stars.” 

“We’ll be home before morning, never fear,” 
said Elorrie. 

They stopped beside the pool where Merrimeg 
had once tried to wash the black from her face. 
The trees were wide apart here, and Merrimeg, 
looking up, could see the bare spot in the sky 
directly overhead, where the lost star belonged. 

“Where are you taking us*?” said Pennie. 

“I’m taking you to the gnomes’ house,” said 
Merrimeg. “We’ll soon be there. It’s two 
gnomes who’ve been very good to me; I know 
where they live. They’re the ones to help 
us.” 

“Is one of them named Malkin?” said 
Florrie. 

“And the other one Nibby?” said Pennie. 

“Yes,” said Merrimeg. 




















t 


»- 




















. 







































- 














































“LOOK!” SHE CRIED 





















































THE STARLIGHT FAIRIES 59 


1 ‘Then it’s no use,” said Pennie. “We’ve 
been there already.” 

“They were asleep,” said Florrie, “and we 
woke them up, and they didn’t like it a bit. They 
wouldn’t get up for any foolish old star,—that’s 
what they said. But they told us about you, and 
that’s how we came to hunt you up. But the 
horrid gnomes wouldn’t do a thing for us; they 
wouldn’t even get up.” 

“They’re not horrid,” said Merrimeg. “Oh 
dear, I don’t know what we’re going to do 
now.” 

She looked down sadly into the dark water 
of the pool, trying to think what to do next. She 
gave a little jump of surprise, and looked 
harder. Far, far down, away down deep under 
the water of the pool,- 

She saw a star. 

“Look!” she cried, and pointed her finger at 
it. 

The starlight fairies leaned over, and looked 
down into the pool. 

“That’s it!” cried Florrie. 



60 


MERRIMEG 


“It’s my star!” cried Winnie. 

* 4 It’s our lost star!” cried Pennie. “Dropped 
down from the sky to the bottom of this pool. ’ ’ 

“Then,” said Merrimeg, “you’d better go 
down and get it.” 

“Oh no! oh no! oh no!” cried the three fairies 
together. 

“We mustn’t get our wings wet!” said 
Pennie. 

“We’d never be able to fly home if our wings 
got wet,” said Winnie. 

“But you have no wings,” said Florrie to 
Merrimeg. 

“No, she has no wings,” said Pennie. 

“She shall go down for our star,” said 
Winnie. “You will, won’t you?” 

“The water’s deep and dark,” said Merri¬ 
meg. 

“But you have no wings,” said Florrie. 

“The water’s cold and gloomy,” said 
Merrimeg. 

“But you have no wings,” said Pennie. 

“I wonder if I could do it,” said Merrimeg. 


THE STARLIGHT FAIRIES 61 

“Oh please!” cried Winnie. “Oh dearest 
Merrimeg, please get my star.” 

“I’ll see how deep it is,” said Merrimeg, and 
she threw a stone into the middle of the pool. 
The water rippled away as the stone sank, and 
the star could not he seen any longer. 

“Oh!” cried Winnie. “Now you’ve sent my 
star away! It’s gone! ’ ’ 

But the water became quiet in a moment, and 
there was the star again, shining bright at the 
bottom of the pool. 

At that instant, they heard a splash in the 
water, and a shrill voice, like the voice of an 
angry boy, cried out: 

“Who breaks my glass? Who breaks my 
glass?” 

“What can that be?” whispered Merrimeg. 

“I don’t know,” said Florrie. “Throw 
another stone, and perhaps we’ll hear it 
again.” 

Merrimeg tossed another stone into the pool, 
and when the ripples had died away they heard 
the same voice again. This time it said: 


62 


MERRIMEG 


“Who strikes my children? Who strikes my 
children ?” 

“Throw another,” whispered Pennie, and 
Merrimeg cast in another stone. 

This time there was a loud wail, and the voice 
cried: 

“My children! My children! I’m coming! 
I’m coming!” 

Then there was a splash, and nothing more. 
They waited a long time, but they heard nothing 
more. 

“I’m going to see,” said Merrimeg. “I may 
have hurt somebody. I can see better from the 
end of that log.” 

There was a dead log, the trunk of a fallen 
tree, lying out from the bank of the pool into 
the water, and Merrimeg stepped onto it and 
getting down on her hands and knees crawled 
out to the end of it. It was slippery, and she 
had to hold on very carefully to keep from fall¬ 
ing off into the water. 

She leaned over as far as she could and looked 
down into the pool. She looked everywhere for 


THE STARLIGHT FAIRIES 63 


the star, but she couldn’t see it; there seemed to 
be some dark thing under the water between 
herself and the star. 

“The star is gone!” she said to the others, in 
a whisper. 

As she said this, a hand came up out of the 
water and seized her wrist and pulled her off 
the log. Over she went into the pool, down, 
down, far down. The hand never once let go of 
her wrist. It pulled her down and down, faster 
and faster. At first she thought she was going 
to choke with the water, but in a moment she 
was all right again, only wet, very wet. And 
in another moment she was at the bottom, and 
the hand let go of her wrist. She stood up on 
her two feet on a floor of what looked like glass. 

There was a pale light shining all about her 
through the water, and she saw that it came 
from the star, lying on the floor nearby. Just 
over her head was a roof of glass, and it was 
badly broken in three or four places. Around 
her were walls of glass. She was in a little house 
of glass, with a broken roof, and full of water. 


64 


MERRIMEG 


A hand took hold suddenly of her arm, and 
she was dragged across the floor in a great 
hurry, by the creature who had pulled her down 
from the log. It was a sprite; a water sprite, 
whose head just reached to her shoulder; full- 
grown, evidently, in spite of being so small; with 
pointed ears, and no hair on his head, and long 
green water grass trailing around him. 

He dragged Merrimeg straight to the star, 
and picked it up by a kind of sling that it was 
meant to hang by. It flashed and glittered as 
he snatched it up. 

He pointed to the floor, and Merrimeg saw, 
lying there side by side, three tiny sprites, 
babies, no bigger than kittens, and exactly like 
the grown one who was holding her arm. They 
looked as if they were asleep, but on the fore¬ 
head of each one was a black and blue bruise, 
and Merrimeg knew that she must have hurt 
them with her stones, as well as broken the glass 
of their little home. 

Their father, if it was their father, motioned 
to her to pick them up. She gathered them up 

































' 































. 

















UPWARD THROUGH THE WATER . . . 










THE STARLIGHT FAIRIES 


65 


in her arms, and the sprite, carrying the star 
in one hand, seized her hair with the other hand 
and sprang up towards the holes in the broken 
glass roof; and in another instant she was be¬ 
ing dragged upward through the water as fast 
as she had been pulled down. 

She almost dropped the little mites she was 
holding in her arms, but she hugged them 
tighter, and when they came to the surface of 
the pool she was holding them safe in her 
arms. 

They came out dripping on the bank of the 
pool, and there were the three starlight fairies. 

“Oh!” cried Winnie. “She’s brought my 
star!” 

The water sprite dragged Merrimeg onto the 
dry grass, and took the three babies from her 
arms and laid them down on the grass. 

“Now! now! now!” he cried. It was plain 
that he was very angry. He was trembling all 
over. “What are you going to do about it? 
Look what you’ve done.” 

“Why,” said Merrimeg, “why-” 



66 


MERRIMEG 


“ First comes this horrible star and breaks in 
the roof of my house and lets in all the water! 
And then—oh you wicked creatures!—you throw 
down your ’bom’nable stones and break my roof 
all to pieces and kill my children—my poor chil¬ 
dren— look at ’em— look at ’em, will you?—look 
at those bumps on their foreheads—oh my poor 
children—You ’bom’nable creatures, you! You 
perfectly awful wicked ’bom’nable-” 

4 ‘Oh!” said Florrie. “It’s too bad. I’m so 
sorry.” 

“We didn’t mean to do any harm,” said 
Pennie. 

“And after he was so kind as to bring our star 
back to us, too,” said Winnie. 

“Is this your star?” cried out the water 
sprite. 

“Yes, yes! It’s mine!’’ said Winnie. 

“Then you’ll never get it! You shan’t have 
it!” cried the water sprite, angrier than ever. 
“You’ll see what I’m going to do with it! You’ll 
never get it again! Ah! there she goes! ’ ’ 

He swung the star by the sling in his hand, 



THE STARLIGHT FAIRIES 67 


and gave it a great fling, and away it flew over 
the tree tops, in a beautiful bright curve, higher 
and higher, and then lower and lower. 

But he was greatly mistaken if he thought he 
could get rid of the star in any such way as that. 
Quick as a flash all three of the starlight fairies 
were in the air, and off like three arrows over 
the tree tops after the star. Before Merrimeg 
knew what was happening they were out of 
sight, and the star was gone. 

The water sprite was so astonished that he 
forgot he was angry. 

“Who are theyl” he said, in a kind of 
whisper. 

“They’re the starlight fairies,” said Merri¬ 
meg. “They hang out the stars each night, and 
to-night they dropped that star by accident, and 
it fell into your pool. If they don’t get it back 
they can’t go home.” 

“But they killed my children and-” 

At that moment the lost star appeared over 
the tree tops, coming on towards them in a streak 
of white light, and in another moment the three 



68 


MERRIMEG 


starlight fairies stood on the ground, and Win¬ 
nie was swinging the star in her hand. 

“Oh! oh!” she said, and began to laugh and 
cry at the same time. She couldn’t say another 
word, for joy. 

“We’ve got it!” cried Florrie. “We can go 
home now!” 

“But what about these poor babies'?” said 
Merrimeg. “Can’t we do anything for them?” 

The three fairies knelt around the three tiny 
bodies on the ground, and looked closely at their 
foreheads. 

“Why,” said Pennie, “it’s nothing but a 
bruise!” 

“So it is,” said Winnie and Florrie together. 

“Is that all?” said Merrimeg. 

“Is that all?” said the water sprite, looking 
very helpless and pitiful. 

“Taa! yaa!” came a little piping cry from the 
grass, and the water sprite dropped to the 
ground beside the babies. 

“He’s crying!” sang out the water sprite. 
“His eyes are open!” 


THE STARLIGHT FAIRIES 69 

Another little cry and another came from the 
grass, and the water sprite sang out again: 

4 ‘ They ’re all crying! They’re all coming to! 
They’re all right! Hurrah!” 

He picked up the three babies and bundled 
them in his arms, and without another word gave 



a leap into the water and splash! went down and 
out of sight, babies and all. 

Florrie laughed, Winnie laughed, and Pennie 
and Merrimeg laughed too. 

“But I’m sorry his house is ruined,” said 
Merrimeg. 

“Oh, he’ll mend it in no time,” said Florrie. 
“But see, Merrimeg, you’re all wet!” 













70 


MERRIMEG 


‘ 6 Goodness!’ ’ said Merrimeg. “I’d forgotten 
all about it.” 

“Stand here,’’ said Florrie, and she and the 
other two fairies placed Merrimeg in the middle 
and turned their backs to her. 

Their wings began to flutter gently, and then 
began to move faster and faster, making a strong 
breeze which blew all over Merrimeg. Fanned 
in this way by the great butterfly wings, she was 
soon dry. 

“Good-by, Merrimeg,’’ said Florrie. 

44 Good-by, dear Merrimeg,” said each of the 
others. 

“Thank you for my star,” said Winnie. 
“You must think of us whenever you look up 
at the stars.” 

“Indeed I will,” said Merrimeg. 

The starlight fairies stood on tiptoe for a mo¬ 
ment, and fluttered their wings; and then they 
rose quietly in the air, and flew straight up. 
When they were above the tree tops, they began 
to circle round and round, going higher and 
higher; far, far up through the night they went 


THE STARLIGHT FAIRIES 


71 


on circling; and long after Merrimeg could see 
them no more, she could see the star, bright as 
a diamond, go circling up and up, . . . 

She ran away home, and crept in quietly at 
the front door, and lay down in her bed and 
snuggled under the covers. Her mother was 
still asleep. She must have gone to sleep her¬ 
self presently; she woke up and thought of the 
lost star, and remembered that she had not 
waited to see if it was in its place. She got out 
of bed and tiptoed to the window, and putting 
her head out looked up. 

A star was sparkling just overhead, where 
there had been none before. The star was in its 
place. 

“I’m glad of that,” she said out loud. 

“What did you say?” said her mother, wak¬ 
ing up. 

“I was only saying—only saying-” 

“Never mind what you were saying. Go back 
to bed, and go to sleep. You’ll catch your death 
of cold.” 

“Yes, mother,” said Merrimeg. 





MERRIMEG AND THE 
ECHO DWARFS 






















MERRIMEG AND THE ECHO DWARFS 


N OW, Merrimeg,” said Merrimeg’s mother, 
4 4 take this basket and go to the brook in 
the woods, and bring me back a basketful of 
water cress for supper. And be sure to come 
straight back.” 

“Yes, mother,” said Merrimeg. And she 
went off down the village street singing, with 
her basket on her arm. But first she put in her 
pocket the blue saltcellar from the kitchen, full 
of salt. 

She walked a long way into the woods, and 
at last she came to a little brook running along 
over the stones. There in the clear water she 
found plenty of fresh green water cress grow¬ 
ing. She pulled it up by the handful and filled 
her basket with it.* 

She knew that she ought to go straight home, 
but this was not one of her days for being good. 

75 


76 


MERRIMEG 


She left the basket on the grass, and took out 
of her pocket the saltcellar with the salt in it. 
Then she looked around for birds. 

A blue bird came hopping by on the ground, 
and Merrimeg stole up behind it on tiptoe, and 
sprinkled a little salt right down over its tail. 
But just at that minute the bird flew up into a 
tree, and Merrimeg was too late. 

Off went the bird from tree to tree, and Merri¬ 
meg ran after it as fast as she could, holding 
out her saltcellar. Pretty soon the bird hopped 
down onto the ground again, and Merrimeg tip¬ 
toed up behind it and sprinkled her salt down 
over its tail. But she was just a bit too late, and 
the bird flew up into a tree. 

Merrimeg followed the bird a long, long way, 
and whenever it hopped down onto the ground 
she tried to sprinkle a little salt on its tail; but 
she was always just a wee bit too late. 

At last, when she was at the foot of a hill that 
rose up out of the woods, she stamped her foot 
and cried out: 

“Oh, you good-for-nothing naughty bird!” 


THE ECHO DWARFS 77 

“Naughty bird!” came back her own voice to 
her from the top of the hill. 

Merrimeg was astonished. She had never 
heard an echo before. 

She thought she would try it again, so she 
called out: 

“Oh, you naughty bird, come down here!” 

Her own voice came back to her from the 
same place up the hill, but it didn’t quite re¬ 
peat her words; it said: 

“Come on down!” 

The echo must have made a mistake. Merri¬ 
meg was more than ever astonished. She waited 
a minute, and then the same voice came down to 
her from the top of the hill, and it said: 

“Down here!” 

The echo had got it right this time. Evidently 
it must have been a very young echo indeed. 

Merrimeg forgot all about the blue bird, and 
she began to climb the hill to find out who it was 
that was mocking her. 

She didn’t know it, but there was an Echo 
Dwarf who lived in a cave near the top of the 


78 


MERRIMEG 


hill, and there lived with him his little boy, a 
very little boy, who was just learning how to 
make echoes. Big Hark was the father’s name. 
Little Hark was the little boy’s name. Big Hark 
had a great deal of trouble in teaching Little 
Hark to make echoes, for Little Hark often for¬ 
got, and instead of calling back the same words 
he had heard, he would often call back words of 
his own. Besides, if the words he had to call 
back were big words, he always got them mixed 
up. His father never knew when he was going 
to make a mess of everything. And when he 
did that, it made Big Hark so angry he could 
hardly speak. 

Merrimeg went on up the hill, and pretty soon 
she called out again: 

“Why couldn’t I catch the bird with my 
salt?” 

“Too slow!” came back the voice from the top 
of the hill. 

Merrimeg couldn’t understand this at all. She 
listened for a minute, and then she heard 
another voice up above her: 



C. 1_ BVl OtK 

_ 


“OXTRAGOB BORGS, GOOBLIK!” 































THE ECHO DWARFS 


81 


‘‘My salt! Oxtragob borgs, gooblik!” 

This was Little Hark’s father, and when he 
said “ Oxtragob borgs, gooblik!” he meant, in 
the private language of the Echo Dwarfs, 
‘‘Wrong again, stupid!” 

Big Hark and Little Hark were standing in 
front of their cave, and Big Hark was letting 
Little Hark practice at making echoes, as Merri- 
meg came up the hill. Not many people came 
that way, and Big Hark was glad of the chance 
to give his little boy a lesson. 

Merrimeg came on further and further up the 
hill, and after a while she stopped and called out 
again: 

“Are you still there 1 ?” 

“Still there!” came back the voice. 

This made her quite angry. She did not like 
to be mocked every time she opened her mouth. 
She cried out: 

“Stop mocking me!” 

“Mocking me!” came back the voice. 

This made her very angry indeed. Without 
saying anything more she clambered on up the 


82 


MERRIMEG 


hill and stopped all out of breath on a little ledge 
before the mouth of a cave. There a little fur¬ 
ther on along the path was standing Little Hark 
himself, with his hands up to his mouth, all 
ready to shout back an echo. His father had 
gone inside the cave. 

Little Hark was very small indeed, and Merri- 
meg looked quite like a giant beside him. She 
ran to him and stood over him and shook her 
finger at him and said: 

“What do you mean by mocking me all the 
time?” 

“All the time ?” said Little Hark, looking very 
much frightened. 

“Yes, all the time!” said Merrimeg. “What 
do you mean by it?” 

“Mean by it?” said the little Echo Dwarf. 

“Don’t you dare repeat everything I say to 
you!” cried Merrimeg. “You naughty thing, 
you’re mocking me!” 

“You’re mocking me!” said Little Hark, be¬ 
ginning to cry. 

“Why, you awful little thing, I’m not!” cried 


BP»®£ 




“HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A THING? HOW 

DARE YOU?” 






























































THE ECHO DWARFS 83 

Merrimeg. “How dare you say such a thing? 
How dare you?” 

“How dare you?” said Little Hark, crying 
harder. 

This made Merrimeg very angry, so angry 
that she could not say another word. She seized 
hold of Little Hark’s arm and shook him. 
There she was shaking him, pretty hard too, and 
Little Hark was bawling out loud, when Big 
Hark : his father, came out of the cave and 
hurried towards them to see what was the 
matter. 

Big Hark was very strong, though he was not 
very big. He threw his arms around Merrimeg 
and dragged her away from Little Hark and 
hauled her along to the cave and pulled her into 
it. Before she knew it her arms were bound up 
tight with tough vines which Big Hark had 
snatched down from the wall. 

Big Hark made her sit down on the floor with 
her back against the wall, and he and Little 
Hark stood before her. Little Hark looked at 
his father and said: 


84 


MERRIMEG 


“Kormsdee lokspit calliper?” 

This meant, in the private language of the 
Echo Dwarfs, “What are you going to do with 
her ?” 

“Lokspit meegs,” said Big Hark, “doomdog 
askbiddle beddagog diskorfunjax krissmuss.” 

This meant, “I am going to keep her here for 
seven Christmases, for you to practice your echo 
lessons on.” 

“Snexterbean?” asked Little Hark. This 
meant, “What then?” 

“Lokspit snexter,” said Big Hark, “flambilly 
noformikin beskeem. ’ ’ This meant, as you may 
imagine, “I am then going to give her to the 
Fire Bubbles at the back of the cave. ’ ’ 

Merrimeg tried to get her arms loose, and 
cried out: 

“I want to go home! I want to go home!” 

Big Hark nudged Little Hark, reminding him 
to practice his echo, and Little Hark said: 

“Go home!” 

“All right, then, I will!” cried Merrimeg, and 
she struggled to her feet and started to run to- 


THE ECHO DWARFS 


85 


wards the mouth of the cave. But Big Hark 
caught her and held her, and she cried out: 
“Let me go! Let me go!” 

“Go!” said Little Hark, echoing her words, 
and Merrimeg cried: 

“I can’t! He won’t let me!” 

Now Little Hark should have said “Let me!” 



But he forgot all about echoing her words, and 
he shouted out two words of his own. 

“Run back!” he cried, and this was what gave 
Merrimeg her chance to escape. For Big Hark 
was so angry at Little Hark’s forgetting to echo 
back Merrimeg’s own words, and calling hack 
words of his own instead, which was strictly for¬ 
bidden, that he let go of Merrimeg and turned 








86 


MERRIMEG 


round on Little Hark and shook his finger at 
him and shouted, “Let me! Oxtragob borgs, 
gooblik!” and boxed Little Hark’s ears with all 
his might and main. 

Little Hark broke out crying, and Merrimeg 
dashed away into the dark at the back of the 
cave, and ran on faster and faster into the dark¬ 
ness. Pretty soon she heard Big Hark shout 
out something in his own language, and she 
knew that he was running after her. So she ran 
on faster than before, and in a moment she 
struck against a wall in the dark, and feeling it 
with her hands she turned a corner and 
saw something which almost made her stop 
breathing. 

It was a stream of sparkling red fire, running 
across the ground right in her path. 

As she looked at it, an enormous bubble, like 
a soap bubble, but red-hot and shining like fire, 
rose from the stream and floated up in the air 
towards her. She crouched down, and the Fire 
Bubble floated up to the ceiling and burst with 
a loud crack and a shower of sparks; and then 


THE ECHO DWARFS 


87 


another one rose from the stream and floated 
towards her and broke against the ceiling; and 
then another and another, one right after the 
other. 

Merrimeg was frightened so that she couldn’t 
move. She didn’t dare to go on, and she didn’t 
dare to go back. She heard the voice of Big 
Hark behind her in the dark, crying out: ‘ ‘ Sdig! 
sdig! ’ ’ And at that moment she- 

Well, she heard another voice, from the other 
side of the Fire Bubbles, and it said: 

“I believe it is, brother, I believe it is.” 

Merrimeg clapped her hands with joy and 
cried: 6 ‘ Here I am! Help me! Help me! ’ ’ 

Big Hark’s voice behind her echoed her words, 
“Help me!” and the other voice, on the far side 
of the Fire Bubbles, said: 

“I suppose we’d better help her, brother 
Nibby.” 

“I’m quite of your opinion, brother, quite,” 
said the voice of brother Nibby. 

“Quite,” said Big Hark, in echo, just behind 
Merrimeg. As he said this he threw his arms 



88 


MERRIMEG 


around her and began to drag her back into the 
cave. Little Hark came running up, and he 
tugged at his father’s coat and said, “Skeems 
non doogdag, himpotter,” which meant, “ Please 
don’t hurt her, father.” 

But he hadn’t any more than said these words 
than Malkin and Nibby, the two gnomes, rushed 
across the stream of fire, knocking the Fire 
Bubbles right and left with their hands, and 
Malkin picked up Little Hark, slung him on his 
shoulder, and ran back with him across the 
stream of fire, knocking the Fire Bubbles right 
and left as he ran. 

“Ishkameerz! O ishkameerz!” cried Big 
Hark, and he let go of Merrimeg and rushed 
down to the stream of fire, holding out his hands 
towards the little boy on the other side. But 

i 

he did not dare go near the fire. 

“I believe now maybe he’ll give her up,” said 
Malkin from the other side of the fire. 

“Give her up!” said Little Hark, struggling 
on Malkin’s shoulder. 

“Fee skimble fen bitkin, fee skimble fen 


THE ECHO DWARFS 


89 


moklin!” shouted Big Hark, which meant, “If 
you’ll give up the boy, I’ll give up the maiden!” 

“Good!” cried Malkin. 

“Good!” said Little Hark. 

Nibby the gnome ran to Merrimeg and un¬ 
fastened the vines that bound her arms, and 
lifted her up and carried her across the stream 
of fire, knocking the Fire Bubbles away with his 
hand, so that she wasn’t harmed in the least; 
and at the same time brother Malkin crossed the 
stream of fire and put down Little Hark beside 
his father. 

“Hurry! hurry!” cried Merrimeg, and pulled 
the two gnomes away into the darkness beyond 
the fire. 

“Farewell!” cried Malkin. 

“Good-by!” called back Little Hark, and his 
father shook him by the shoulder and said, 
“Oxtragob borgs, gooblik!” which meant, as you 

i _ 

know, “Wrong again, stupid!” 

“Take me home quick,” said Merrimeg as she 
went on between the two gnomes deeper and 
deeper into the darkness. 


90 


MERRIMEG 


44 She’s not very polite to-day, brother,” said 
Malkin. 

44 Not very, brother, not very, indeed,” said 
Nibby. 44 She really ought to say ‘Please,’ I 
think.” 

44 Maybe something’s happened to bother her,” 
said Malkin. 

44 Maybe so, maybe so,” said Nibby. 44 1 won¬ 
der what it could be. ’ ’ 

They went down into the earth for a long 
way, and then they went up under the earth for 
a long way, and at last they stopped. 

44 Here we are, brother Nibby,” said Malkin, 
and he appeared to be opening a door. 

44 Home again, brother Malkin,” said Nibby, 
and the three of them climbed a ladder, and 
Nibby raised a door overhead, and the next 
minute they were in the gnomes’ kitchen. 

Malkin and Nibby sat themselves down at 
their little table, where a candle was burning, 
and Malkin said: 

44 I suppose we’d better ask her to stay to sup¬ 
per, brother. ’ ’ 


THE ECHO DWARFS 91 

4 4 Just what I was thinking,” said Nibby. 
44 But which one of us will ask her'?” 

4 4 Oh, yon must be the one to do that, brother/’ 

4 4 Oh, no, you can do it so much better, brother 
Malkin. Yon must-’’ 

44 Goodness gracious me!” said Merrimeg. 
44 You don’t need to ask me. I can’t stay any¬ 
way. ’ ’ 

“Not very polite to-day, brother, not very 
polite,” said Malkin. 

44 I’m afraid not, brother, I’m afraid not,” 
said Nibby. 

44 Oh, I’m so sorry,” said Merrimeg. 44 Please 
excuse me. I really have to go home. And I’m 
ever so much obliged to you.” 

She climbed the ladder to the ceiling and went 
up through the little door there, and calling 
down good-by she stepped out onto the roof of 
the gnomes’ house, and closed down the door 
after her. 

She ran as fast as she could through the woods, 
until she came to the brook where she had left 
her basket. There it was, full of water cress, 



92 


MERRIMEG 


just as she had left it. She snatched it up and 
ran all the way home. 

When she came in at the kitchen door of her 
house, her mother was rummaging in the cup¬ 
board, as if she were looking for something she 
had lost. 

“Well, Merrimeg, you’ve been a precious long 
time getting a little basketful of water cress. 
I’ve lost my blue saltcellar with the salt in it. 
Do you think you can find it?” 

Merrimeg suddenly found that the saltcellar 
was no longer in her pocket. She must have lost 
it somewhere in the woods. 

“No, mother,” said she. 



MERRIMEG AND THE 
RAG-BONE MAN 







MERRIMEG AND TEE RAG-BONE MAN 

R AGS! bones! old iron!” 

Merrimeg put her head out of the front 
window and looked down the street. 

A queer man with a dirty face was coming 
along, and he was bending down under a heavy 
sack which he was carrying on his back. 

“Rags! bones! old iron!” he cried, and all the 
children who were playing in the street ran in¬ 
doors in a fright. 

It was the Rag-Bone Man. Everybody said 
that if you didn’t look sharp he’d snatch you up 
and stuff you in his sack and carry you off and 
never, never bring you back any more; so all 
the children in that village were terribly afraid 
of him, and whenever they saw him coming they 
simply took to their heels and fled. 

“Rags! bones! old iron!” cried the Rag-Bone 
Man. 


95 


96 


MERRIMEG 


“Oh, pshaw,” said Merrimeg, “Vm not 
afraid.” 

She went out into the street and watched him 
coming. He came on nearer and nearer. He 
reached the house next door and stopped there 
and stared at Merrimeg. 

“Rags! bones! old iron!” he shouted out, at 
the top of his voice, and quick as a wink Merri¬ 
meg sprang back into the house and banged the 
door and bolted it and ran to her room and 
buried her head under the pillows. It was a 
long time before she came out again. 

When she did come out, she didn’t go into the 
street, because the Rag-Bone Man was still there, 
probably. She went into the cabbage garden, 
where her mother was hanging up clothes. 

“Where are you going, Merrimeg?” said her 
mother. 

“Nowhere,” said Merrimeg. 

“You’d better go over to Tish’s house now. 
They’re expecting you to have supper with them. 
And don’t get your dress soiled, and don’t stay 
too late.” 


THE RAG-BONE MAN 


97 


“No’m,” said Merrimeg. 

“ Before you go, take these handkerchiefs and 
spread them out on the rose bushes in the sun 
to dry.’’ 

“Yes’m,” said Merrimeg. 

Her mother kissed her, and went into the kit¬ 
chen ; and Merrimeg, carrying the wet handker¬ 
chiefs, walked over to the apple orchard, think¬ 
ing about apples, and forgetting all about the 
rose bushes. She always liked to eat apples just 
before meals. 

In the orchard she stopped under a tree and 
reached up towards the lowest branch, and just 
at that moment she heard the sound of some one 
crying. It seemed to come from the other side 
of the tree. She tiptoed around the tree to see 
who it was. 

It was the Rag-Bone Man. He was sitting 
on the ground, with his back against the tree, 
and his sack beside him, and he was crying 
to himself pretty loud, and sniffling and 
wiping away the tears with the back of his 
hand. 


98 MERRIMEG 

Merrimeg was so frightened that she could 
not move. 

“ Gimme a handkerchief, quick, ” said the 
Rag-Bone Man, and he snatched the handker¬ 
chiefs out of her hand and put one of them to 
his nose. 

“Oh!” he said, and threw the handkerchiefs 
down. “They’re wet! They won’t do! What 
good is a wet handkerchief? Haven’t you got a 
dry one?” 

“No, sir,” said Merrimeg, in a shaky little 
voice. 

“Then it’s no use,” said the Rag-Bone Man. 
“I reckon I’ll have to stop crying. You can’t 
cry without a handkerchief. Why didn’t you 
bring me a dry one?” 

“I didn’t know you wanted one,” said Merri¬ 
meg. 

“Well, you didn’t think I could cry into a 
wet one, did you? You don’t expect me to do 
that, do you? Do you, or don’t you?” 

“No, sir,” said Merrimeg. 

“The next time you come around me when 



“GIMME A HANDKERCHIEF QUICK,” SAID THE 

RAG-BONE MAN 










7 













\ 








THE RAG-BONE MAN 99 

I’m crying, you bring me a dry one, d’you 
understand'?” 

“Yes, sir,” said Merrimeg. 

“Don’t say 4 yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir’ all the 
time. Why don’t you ask me what I’m crying 
about'?” 

“Yes, sir,” said Merrimeg, twisting her apron. 
“I mean—if you please-” 

“I’m crying about—I’m crying about—oh, 
dear! I’m going to cry again, I know I am! 
And I never have any handkerchief!” 

He burst into tears again, and Merrimeg be¬ 
gan to feel sorry for him. 

“Yes, sir?” said she. 

He wiped his face with the back of his hand, 
and smeared the dirt all over it most terribly. 

“It’s—it’s—about the children,” he said, cry¬ 
ing out louder than before. “I can’t—I can’t— 
help it. It’s because they—they won’t come 
near me—they’re afraid of me—they won’t 
speak to me—they won’t let me tell ’em about 
Rags—they run away from me—oh, it’s too hard, 
it’s too hard!” 


> 




> 




'i > > 


> 






100 


MERRIMEG 


He sniffled and gulped. Merrimeg felt very 
sorry for him indeed. 

“Please, sir,” said she, “do you want-” 

“I want a handkerchief. Look in that bag 
and see if you can find one. Oh, dear! If the 
children would only let me speak to ’em! Then 
I could tell ’em all about Rags! Why don’t you 
hurry? Can’t you see I need a handkerchief? 
Will you, or won’t you?” 

Merrimeg quickly opened the sack. She put 
her head down into it and looked in; and before 
she knew what was going on her heels were lifted 
up and she was plopped down head first into the 
bag, and there she was, tied up tight inside the 
rag-bone sack. 

She kicked and screamed, but it wasn’t any 
use. The Rag-Bone Man slung the sack on his 
back and made off through the orchard as fast 
as he could go. 

Merrimeg stopped kicking, when she found it 
wasn’t any use, and after a long time she came 
down on the ground with a bump, and she heard 
the Rag-Bone Man call out, “Open the door!” 



THE RAG-BONE MAN 


101 


The sack was untied, and she stood up. She 
was standing before a little house in the woods, 
and the trees about it were dark and gloomy, and 
the sun had gone down. 

The door of the little house opened, and a little 
girl, smaller than Merrimeg, stood in the door¬ 
way. She was a very ragged little girl, and her 
face was dirty and sad. She looked at Merrimeg 
with big solemn eyes. 

“I’ve brought you one at last!” cried the 
Rag-Bone Man. “Here she is! I’ve got one for 
you at last! Somebody to play with! Here she 
is, and she’s going to stay with you and play 
with you, and never go home any more! Now 
we’ve got her we’ll keep her. Now you’ll have 
company! Ain’t she a pretty one, though? 
Ain’t I a good father? Come in, come on 
in!” 

He seized the two little girls by the hand and 
ran into the house with them. 

It was a tiny house, with only two rooms, one 
in front and one behind. The Rag-Bone Man 
began to get out plates and knives and forks and 


102 MERRIMEG 

set them about on a table in the front room. 
The two little girls stood staring at each other. 

“What’s your name?” said the Rag-Bone 
Man’s little girl. 

“Merrimeg,” said she. 

“My name is Rags. That’s my father. He’s 
been trying for a long, long time to bring me 
somebody to live with me here and play with 
me, but they always ran away from him. You’re 
the first. Are you lonely?” 

“No,” said Merrimeg. 

“I am. But I won’t be any longer. I’ve got 
you to play with me now.” 

“Can’t I—ever—go home—any more?” said 
Merrimeg. 

“Oh, father!” said little Rags. “She wants 
to go home already!” 

“Go home?” cried the Rag-Bone Man. “Are 
you talking about going home already? Oh, 
dear, don’t make me cry again! If you talk like 
that, I’ll cry, I know I will! You can’t leave 
us! It wouldn’t do! No, no! Sit down and eat 
your supper. Oh, dear, she wants to go home!” 



THE RAG-BONE MAN 


103 


They sat down at the table, but Merrimeg 
couldn’t eat; and after supper Rags and Merri¬ 
meg went to bed together in a little bed in the 
back room. The stars shone in through the 
window. 

u To-morrow,” said Rags, pulling the covers 
up over Merrimeg, “ we ’ll have a grand play in 
the woods all day. Oh, won’t I be happy, 
though! I know where there’s a lot of wild 
strawberries, and a brook with crawly things on 
the bottom, and—oh, I’m so glad you’ve come! 
And father won’t ever let you leave me as long 
as you live! Oh, isn’t it jolly! I’ll never be 
lonely any more!” 

She sighed with happiness, and nestled her 
head down on the pillow, and went to sleep. 

But Merrimeg didn’t go to sleep. She thought 
about her mother, and what would happen if she 
never went home any more, and how she would 
miss her mother, and what the other children 
in the village would say after she’d been away 
for years and years, and—she sat up in bed. 
The little house was very still. She made up her 


104 


MERRIMEG 


mind that if she was ever going to get home, she 
had better try to steal away now. She got up 
quietly and dressed herself, and opened the door 
of the front room on a crack and peeked in. 

A candle was burning on the table in there, 
and the Rag-Bone Man was over at the other 
side of the room, opening the drawers of a bureau 
one after another, and rummaging about inside. 
He was sniffling dreadfully. 

“1 can’t find ’em,” he was saying to himself. 
“Where are the plaguey handkerchiefs, any¬ 
way? To think that after I’ve tried so hard, 
and brought one of ’em here at last, she wants 
to go right away home, before she’s been here ten 
minutes! They’re all alike, that’s what it is. 
They don’t like me, and they run away from me, 
and when one of ’em comes here at last she wants 
to go right off home again. There ain’t one of 
’em can abide the sight of me, and it’s a cruel 
shame, that’s what it is. It’s cruel . Oh, dear, 
I’m going to cry again—I just know I am—it’s 
coming on—I can feel it —where are those hand¬ 
kerchiefs, anyway?” 



“I CAN SEE HER PEEKING IN THROUGH 

THE DOOR,” 


oo 











































THE RAG-BONE MAN 


107 


He opened another drawer, and rummaged 
about inside, and then sat down on a chair with 
his head on his hands. 

“Plague take it,” said he, “I just know I’m 
going to cry. And there’s no handkerchiefs in 
the house. Why do they all run away from me ? 
And she wants to go home before she’s been here 
ten minutes, and there’s no handkerchiefs in the 
house—boo-hoo-hoo! ’ ’ 

“I believe he’s crying,” said a voice outside. 

“I believe he is, brother, I believe he is,” said 
another voice. 

“How would it do to go in?” said the first 
voice. 

“That’s a very clever idea, brother, very 
clever,” said the other voice. 

The front door opened, and in walked the two 
gnomes. 

“I believe she’s here, too, brother Nibby,” 
said Malkin. “I can see her peeking in through 
the door.” 

“Then,” said brother Nibby, “I wonder why 
she doesn’t come in?” 



108 


MERRIMEG 


“I will come in,” said Merrimeg. “Oh, but 
I’m glad you’ve come!” And she stepped into 
the room. 

“But she wants to go home!” said the Rag- 
Bone Man, wiping his eyes and nose with the 
back of his hand. “Have you got a dry 
handkerchief 4 ?” 

“Have you got a handkerchief, brother 
Nibby?” said Malkin. 

“Oh dear no,” said Nibby. “I always forget 
it.” 

“Do you know where you left it, brother?” 
said Malkin. 

“Oh dear yes,” said Nibby. “In the ice box 
under the kitchen sink.” 

“Then please!” said the Rag-Bone Man. 
“Please! Take me there and give it to me! Oh, 
oh! When I think of all the children running 
away from me, and now she wants to go home, 
and no handkerchiefs in the house,—I’m going 
to cry again, I’m going to cry again, I just know 
it!” And sure enough, he began to cry, harder 
than ever. 


THE RAG-BONE MAN 


109 


“Maybe he’d feel better,” said Malkin, “if 
we took him home and got him a handker¬ 
chief.” 

“Maybe he would, there’s something in that,” 
said Nibby. 

“Then let’s do it,” said Malkin. 

“But oh, dear!” said the Rag-Bone Man, 
pointing at Merrimeg. “I can’t leave her here. 
She’d run away.” 

“Then we’d better take her with us, brother 
Nibby,” said Malkin. “What do you say?” 

“Just what I was thinking,” said Nibby. 
“You took the words out of my mouth.” 

“All right,” said the Rag-Bone Man. “When 
I’ve gotten the handkerchief I’ll bring her back 
again. Now then,” said he to Merrimeg, pick¬ 
ing up his bag, “jump into the sack. Quick. 
Will you, or won’t you?” 

“No, no!” said Merrimeg. “I don’t like the 
sack. I won’t!” 

“Not very polite to-day, brother Nibby,” said 
Malkin. “I think she ought to do what the 
gentleman says.” 


110 MERRIMEG 

‘‘You ’re right, brother, you’re always right,’ ’ 
said Nibby. 

“Well,” said Merrimeg, “if you say I ought 
to do it, I will. But I don’t want to.” 

She stepped into the bag, and at that moment 



a voice sounded from the back door. “No, no! 
Don’t go away!” 

It was little Rags, in her nightgown. She ran 
to Merrimeg and threw her arms around her and 
clung to her tight. 













THE RAG-BONE MAN 


111 


u Don’t go, don’t go!” cried little Rags. 
“Don’t leave me! Stay and play with me! Oh 
please, oh please!” 

“ She’s coming back,” said her father. “I’ll 
bring her back as soon as I get the handkerchief. 
She’d run away if I left her here. She’ll be 
back.” 

Merrimeg put her arm around little Rags and 
kissed her. 

“Good-by,” said she. “Don’t cry. I’ve got 
to go now. Don’t cry. Good-by.” 

The Rag-Bone Man pulled the sack up over 
Merrimeg and hoisted it up on his back. 

“Don’t go, don’t go!” said little Rags, and 
put her head down on her arm. 

The door closed behind the Rag-Bone Man 
and his sack, and the two gnomes; and little 
Rags in her nightgown stood all alone in the 
room, weeping. 

The Rag-Bone Man walked so far and so long 
that Merrimeg fell asleep in the sack. When 
she woke up she was standing on the mossy roof 
of the gnomes’ house, rubbing her eyes; and in 


112 


MERRIMEG 


a moment they were all four going down the 
ladder into the gnomes’ kitchen. 

Nibby ran to the ice box under the sink, and 
put his hand in. 

“It’s no use, brother, it isn’t here,” said 
Nibby. 

“Then we’d better look somewhere else, 
brother,” said Malkin. 

They looked in the coffeepot, and the bread 
box, and in the oven, and everywhere; but they 
couldn’t find the handkerchief. 

“Oh, dear!” said the Rag-Bone Man. “It’s 
enough to make a person cry his eyes out, that’s 
what it is. Oh, what a day I’ve had! What are 
you going to do now*?” 

“TU tell you,” said Merrimeg. “I left a lot 
of them in the apple orchard at home, and 
they’re all dry by now. Let’s go there!” 

“Do you think they’re dry?” said the Rag- 
Bone Man. 

6 ‘ Of course they are! ’ ’ said Merrimeg. 61 Come 
along! Hurry!” 

She led them up the ladder, and when they 


THE BAG-BONE MAN 


113 


were outside she got into the sack again. The 
Bag-Bone Man swung her onto his back, and be¬ 
fore very long she was dropped to the ground 
with a bump, and she got out of the sack. They 
were standing in the apple orchard behind her 
house, and there on the ground were the hand¬ 
kerchiefs, where the Eag-Bone Man had thrown 
them. 

The Eag-Bone Man picked them up. They 
were wet. 

“Oh, dear! oh, dear!” he cried. “They’re all 
wet! I knew they wouldn’t be dry! They’re no 
earthly good! What’ll I do? No handkerchiefs, 
and all the children running away from me, and 
—Oh, dear! I’m going to cry again! Oh, what 
a day I’ve had! What’ll I do? What’ll 
I do?” 

“Bless my soul, brother Nibby,” said Malkin. 
“7 know where our handkerchief is. I put it 
there myself. It’s in the handkerchief box on 
the bureau. I wonder why we didn’t think to 
look for it there?” 

“I believe you’re right, brother,” said Nibby. 


114 MERRIMEG 

“It's the last place I would have thought of 
looking for it. ’ ’ 

“Then we’d better take him back to get it 
before he cries again,” said Nibby. “Let’s go.” 

“Oh, dear!” said the Rag-Bone Man. “Such 
a lot of running back and forth in the middle of 
the night! Come along,” he said to Merrimeg, 
“jump into the sack again, and let’s go back. 
Oh, dear! So much trouble, nothing but trouble! 
Quick, jump into the sack.” 

“No, no!” cried Merrimeg, starting to run. 
“I’m home now. I’m not going back! Good- 
by!” And she ran away as fast as her feet 
would carry her, through the apple orchard, 
across the cabbage garden, and in at the kitchen 
door. 

“Funny how we came to bring her back right 
to her own home, brother, ’ ’ said Malkin. 

“Very funny, very funny indeed,” said Nibby. 

“Oh! oh! oh!” said the Rag-Bone Man. 
“What’ll my poor little Rags do now? Oh, 
what a terrible day I’ve had! Oh, dear! oh, 
dear!” 


THE RAG-BONE MAN 115 

He put his head down and burst out crying, 
and the two gnomes led him away. 

In the front room, Merrimeg’s mother was sit¬ 
ting at the window sewing. 

“Well,” she said. “I thought you were never 
coming home! I told you not to stay at Tish’s 
so late. Did you have a nice supper ? Get ready 
for bed, and next time don’t stay so long.” 

“Yes, mother,” said Merrimeg. 




MERRIMEG AND THE 
APPLE-SEED ELF 


MERRIMEG AND THE APPLE-SEED ELF 


M ERRIMEG was sitting in an apple tree 
in the orchard. She sat there as still as 
a mouse. 

Her mother came to the kitchen door and 
called: “Merrimeg!” 

But Merrimeg sat in the apple tree as quiet 
as a mouse; and answered never a word. 

‘ ‘ Merrimeg! ’ ’ called her mother. 6 ‘ Where are 
you?” 

Still Merrimeg said nothing. It was not one 
of her days to be good. 

‘ ‘ Come dry the dishes! Come dry the dishes! ’ ’ 
called her mother. 

But Merrimeg did not want to dry dishes, 

so she sat in the apple tree among the green 

leaves and red apples, and said never a word. 

Her mother went back into the kitchen, and 

closed the door behind her. 

119 


120 


MERRIMEG 


Then Merrimeg reached out her hand and 
plucked the biggest and reddest apple near her, 
and took a great bite out of it. 

“Oh, you naughty child!” piped up a little 
thin squeaking voice. “Are you trying to bite 
my head off?” 

She looked at the apple in her hand, and there, 
in the place where she had bitten it, was a tiny 
head with little black eyes. 

“Let me out!” cried the voice again. “Sup¬ 
pose you’d bitten my head off, what then, eh?” 

Merrimeg held up the apple and looked close 
at the tiny head. 

“I’m sorry,” said she. “How can I let you 
out?” 

“Why, you stupid thing,” said the little crea¬ 
ture, “eat me out, of course!” 

“Oh!” said Merrimeg, and she carefully ate 
all around the outside of the apple, and out came 
into her hand the tiniest little man in the world, 
no bigger than an apple core, and dressed in a 
coat made of apple seeds all fastened together. 

“I heard your mother calling you!” said this 



MERRIMEG WAS SITTING IN AN 
APPLE TREE 






















THE APPLE-SEED ELF 


123 


little elf. “First you won’t answer your mother, 
and then you nearly bite my head off. What do 
you mean by it?” 

“I don’t like to dry dishes,” said Merrimeg. 

“Oh, she doesn’t like to dry dishes! Oh, no 
indeed! She mustn’t do anything she doesn’t 
want to do! Not she! I’ll tell you what; I sup¬ 
pose you’d like to do nothing all day but eat 
and be outdoors, and never have to bother about 
washing and dressing and sweeping and dusting 
and running errands,—I suppose that’s what 
you’d like?” 

“Well,” said Merrimeg, “I would like it 
pretty well. I hate to sweep and-” 

“All right!” cried the Apple-Seed Elf, and 
he sprang from her hand onto a branch near her 
shoulder. “I’ll fix it for you! I’ll see to it! 
You’ll never have to dress or do any lessons any 
more,—now then! Caterpillar! Go away, child, 
and come up, caterpillar! Come up, caterpillar! 
Come, come, come!” 

As he finished saying this, Merrimeg disap¬ 
peared. There was no little girl sitting on the 



124 


MERRIMEG 


branch any longer, but in her place was a fat 
yellow caterpillar, wriggling along the bark. She 
was turned into a caterpillar, and she would 
never have to dress herself or learn any lessons 
any more. 

The Apple-Seed Elf hopped down behind the 
caterpillar and pushed it with his foot. 

“Ha, ha, ha!” he laughed. “No more dishes 
to dry for you! Ha, ha! ” 

At that moment a blackbird swooped down 
over the caterpillar and made a dart at it with 
his beak and nearly got it. But he missed it, 
just, and if he hadn’t missed it that would surely 
have been the end of Merrimeg forever. 

She wasn’t out of danger, however. The 
blackbird meant to have that caterpillar, and he 
came back directly, and this time he swooped 
down straight over it and opened his beak and 
-But at that instant he was knocked side¬ 
ways by something which shot out at him from 
among the branches. 

It was a tiny lady with gauzy wings, a spar¬ 
kling little lady, not quite so big as the black- 



THE APPLE-SEED ELF 


125 


bird, and she darted at the bird with a flash like 
the flash of diamonds, and knocked him sideways 
just as he was about to snap up the caterpillar. 

“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the Apple-Seed Elf, 
still standing on the branch behind the cater¬ 
pillar. He seemed to be having a thoroughly 
good time. 

The blackbird wasn’t going to give up so soon. 
He dashed at the caterpillar again, and the 
sparkling little lady dashed at the blackbird; 
and she knocked him sideways, and he flew off 
and turned round and came back again. He was 
the stubbornest blackbird in the world. He 
came back a dozen times. And each time the 
sparkling lady, with her wings buzzing like a 
bumblebee’s, knocked him sideways and sent 
him off. But the thirteenth time she missed him. 
Just as he was pouncing on the caterpillar she 
flashed by him, too late. She wheeled around 
and cried out, “Go away, caterpillar! Come up, 
butterfly!” And the caterpillar turned in¬ 
stantly into a beautiful butterfly, and the butter¬ 
fly floated away off the branch just in time. 



126 


MERRIMEG 


The blackbird snatched up the Apple-Seed 
Elf in its beak by the back of his coat, and dashed 
off with him. The elf screamed and kicked, but 
it wasn’t any use; the blackbird flew off with him 
out of sight among the trees, and did not come 
back any more. 

Merrimeg was a butterfly, a beautiful butter¬ 
fly, with pointed wings all white and blue and 
brown. It fluttered here and there in the sun¬ 
shine for a moment, then it sailed out from the 
orchard as if it knew where it was going, and 
floated off across the cabbage garden to the kit- 

i 

chen window, and in through the kitchen window 
straight into the kitchen, where Merrimeg’s 
mother was washing the dishes. 

“Oh!” said Merrimeg’s mother. “What a 

i 

beautiful butterfly! I must try to catch it for 
Merrimeg. ’ ’ 

The butterfly sailed round the kitchen, and 
Merrimeg’s mother held up her apron and tip¬ 
toed after it, and almost caught it, but not quite. 
It flew off into the front room, and when Merri¬ 
meg ’s mother came in it was resting quietly on 


THE APPLE-SEED ELF 


127 


Merrimeg’s bed, fluttering its wings. Oh, if that 
butterfly could only have said one word! 

Merrimeg’s mother held her apron over it, but 
it rose in the air, and as she ran after it it flew 
out of the front window into the street and was 
gone. Merrimeg’s mother went back to her 
washing in the kitchen. 

“I wonder where that Merrimeg is,” said she, 

i 

and she went to the kitchen door and called, 

4 

“Merrimeg!” But there was no answer, and she 
turned back into the kitchen again, and threw 
her hands up and said, “Why, bless me, there’s 
that butterfly again!” 

Sure enough, the butterfly was hovering 
around, here and there, quite as if it could not 
make up its mind to go away. Merrimeg’s 
mother held up her apron again and tried to 
catch it; but she only drove it into the front 
room, and when she followed it there, waving 
her apron, it flew out of the window into the 
street. 

“Oh, pshaw,” she said, “I can’t bother with 
you all day.” And she closed the window. 


128 


MERRIMEG 


The butterfly rose higher and sailed off down 
the street in the direction of the woods. 

Merrimeg’s mother went back to her washing. 

Now it happened, after a while, that the two 
gnomes, brother Malkin and brother Nibby, 
were sitting on the moss beside the roof of their 
house, with their back against a tree. A butter¬ 
fly, with pointed wings all white and blue and 
brown, came fluttering towards them through 
the woods. 

It alighted on a bush directly before them, and 
rested there for a long time, waving its wings 
lip and down. The gnomes sat staring at it. 
Oh, if that butterfly could only have said one 
word! 

Suddenly Malkin looked up at the sky and 
said: 

“What’s that blackbird carrying, brother?” 

6 ‘Why, I believe it’s—it’s-” began Nibby. 

A blackbird was flying just above them, and 
as they spoke something dropped from its beak 
right down onto the bush beside the butterfly. 
It was the Apple-Seed Elf. 



THE APPLE-SEED ELF 


129 


“Bless my soul, brother,” said Malkin in sur¬ 
prise, but before he could say anything else the 
Apple-Seed Elf hopped over to the butterfly and 
rubbed his tiny hands quickly over its beautiful 
wings, all white and blue and brown. 



“Oh, the wicked little villain!” cried Malkin, 
and the two gnomes made a dash at the Elf; but 
he skipped away in a hurry, laughing “Ha, ha, 
ha!” and disappeared from sight under the bush. 

The butterfly flapped its wings, trying to fly, 
but it couldn’t. All the powder, the soft deli¬ 
cate powder with its beautiful colors, which 
covered its wings, was brushed off; and without 


130 MERRIMEG 

this powder on its wings the butterfly could not 

fly- 

The gnomes looked about carefully, and on the 
leaves of the bush they found the powder, and 
they dusted it off into an acorn cup. But they 
didn’t know how to put it on again. 

“What ’ll we do about it?” said Nibby. 

“We’d better go to the Paint Shop,” said 
Malkin. 

“That’s a good idea, brother,” said Nibby. 
“I declare you do think of everything.” 

“Then let’s go,” said Malkin, and he picked 
up the poor butterfly gently. It wasn’t beauti¬ 
ful any longer, and it couldn’t fly. 

“I’ll carry the powder,” said Nibby, and he 

took the acorn cup in his hands, full of a powder 

/ 

all white and blue and brown, mixed up together. 
They made off through the woods as fast as 

/ 

they could. By and by they came to a brook, 
and on the other side of the brook, among the 
trees, was a tiny house, with an open door no 
taller than the gnomes, and over the door was a 
sign, and it said: 


THE APPLE-SEED ELF 


131 


44 Butterflies Painted Here.” 

The gnomes crossed the brook and went in 
at the little door; and as they did so a big butter¬ 
fly, gorgeously painted, came flying out. 

Inside, in a little room, a little old man with 
a long white beard and goggle-eyes was sitting 
behind a little table. On the table before him 
was row after row of acorn cups, hundreds of 
them, each one filled with a colored powder, and 
every color different from all the others. The 
little old man was a Painter of Butterflies. He 
dipped a tiny hair brush into one of the cups 
of powder, and said : 

44 Wait a minute, please. I’ve got to finish 
this wing.” 

A butterfly was lying on the table before him, 
all finished except for a spot on one wing; and 
dozens of other butterflies were waiting their 
turns on a bench by the wall; these last had no 
colors on their wings at all. 

The Painter of Butterflies touched up the 
wing before him with an orange-colored powder, 
and said: 


132 


MERRIMEG 


“Now you’ll do. Off with you!” 

The butterfly fluttered, rose in the air, and 
sailed out through the door. 

“You’re next,” said the Painter. 

Malkin put down his butterfly on the table, 
and Nibby laid down his cup of powder. 

“Aha!” said the Painter. “Let me look at 
that butterfly! Something queer about that 
butterfly! Wait a minute! ’ ’ 

He put on a pair of thick shiny spectacles and 
bent down over the butterfly. 

“Aha!” he said. “I thought so! This isn’t 
a butterfly. I ought to know a butterfly when 
I see one. This is something else entirely. 
Did you ever see a butterfly with a pink 
sash?” 

He took off his spectacles and gave them to 
the gnomes, and they looked at the butterfly 
through the spectacles, one after the other. 
There, around the butterfly’s body, was a thread 
of pink ribbon, tied with a bow. When they 
took the spectacles off they couldn’t see it any 
longer. 


THE APPLE-SEED ELF 133 

4 4 Bless my soul, brother Nibby,” said Malkin, 
“I believe it’s-” 

“I believe it is, brother, I believe it is,” said 
Nibby. “I’ve seen her wear a pink sash. How¬ 
ever did she get changed into a butterfly"?” 

The little old Painter picked up the acorn cup 
which Nibby had brought, and looked into it. 

4 4 Aha! ” he said. 4 4 White and blue and brown. 
She must have had a white skin and blue eyes 
and brown hair. Wait a minute.” 

He poured the powder from the cup onto the 
table, and held his brush over it. 

44 White, white, come up!” he said; and all the 
white powder flew up onto the brush. He 
painted the butterfly’s wings with this, so that 
they became white all over. 

44 Blue, blue, come up!” he said, and all the 
blue powder flew up onto the brush. With this 
he painted a round blue eye on each wing. 

44 Brown, brown, come up!” he said, and the 
brown powder flew up on to the brush. With 
this he painted brown streaks like hair on each 
wing. 



134 


MERRIMEG 


“Now,” lie said, “fly!” 

The butterfly rose and flew around the room, 
and then settled down on Nibby’s shoulder. 

“That’s done,” said the Painter, “now we’d 
better go and see old Sappy the Owl about it.” 

He got up, and the two gnomes followed him 
out of the door, the butterfly coming along on 
Nibby’s shoulder. 

They came, after a while, to a great hollow 
oak tree in the woods, and the Painter stuck his 
head into a hole at the bottom of the tree and 
shouted up inside: “Sappy! Come down!” 
Then he stood up, and in a moment a large gray 
owl was standing in the opening at the bottom 
of the tree. 

“Here’s a butterfly with a pink sash,” said 
the Painter. 

“We’d better tell him, brother,” said Malkin, 
“about the Elf with the apple-seed coat, who 
brushed all the powder off the butterfly’s 
wings.” 

“Suppose you tell him, brother,” said Nibby. 
But Sappy didn’t wait to be told; he had evi- 



THE TWO GNOMES FOLLOWED HIM OUT OF 

THE DOOR 





























































































THE APPLE-SEED ELP 


135 


dently heard all he needed to hear. He gave a 
slow wink with one eye, ruffled his feathers, and 
flew away among the trees without a word. 

“ He ’ll he back/’ said the Painter, and in a 
little while old Sappy came back, and he was 
carrying in his beak the Apple-Seed Elf. 

“Let me go!” cried the Elf, kicking and 
squirming, and owl dropped him to the ground 
and stood over him. 

“What do you want?” piped the Elf, evi¬ 
dently frightened almost to death. 

“Say the words!” growled the owl, in a deep 
hoarse voice. “Say the words that’ll change the 
butterfly back again, and say ’em before I count 
ten, or else I’ll eat you. One, two, three, 
four, --” 

The Apple-Seed Elf started to scamper off 
through the grass, but the owl put his foot on 
him, quick as a wink. 

“Five, six, seven,-” 

“Let me go!” cried the Elf, struggling to get 
loose. 

“Eight, nine,-” 





136 


MERRIMEG 


“Go away, butterfly!” cried the Elf, in his 
shrill voice. “ Come up, child! Go away, butter¬ 
fly! Come up, child!” 

The minute he had said this, Nibby cried out, 
“My stars, brother, here’s a go!” And there, 
on Nibby’s shoulder, in place of the butterfly, sat 
Merrimeg herself, with her feet dangling to the 
ground. 

“Let me go!” screamed the Apple-Seed Elf, 
and Sappy the Owl gave him a kick with his 
foot and sent him off scampering through the 
grass. 

“I believe she’s here, brother,” said Malkin. 

“I’m sure of it, brother, I’m sure of it,” said 
Nibby, as Merrimeg slipped from his shoulder 
and stood on her feet. 

41 Take me home! ’ ’ said Merrimeg. ‘ ‘ Take me 
home quick! Don’t stand there all day, I want 
to go home!” 

“Not very polite to-day, brother Nibby,” said 
Malkin. 

“Not very, indeed,” said Nibby. 

“Excuse me,” said Merrimeg, “but my 


THE APPLE-SEED ELF 137 

mother’s been calling me, and I mustn’t keep 
her waiting.” 

“Well,” said the little old Painter of Butter¬ 
flies, “I guess I’d better get back to my work.” 

“Why don’t you go, then'?” growled Sappy 
the Owl. 

“I must go,” said Merrimeg. “Mother wants 
me to help her with the dishes, and there’s some 
sweeping to be done, too, and-” 

“Come along, brother,” said Malkin, and the 
two gnomes led Merrimeg away in the direction 
of their house. 

When they reached it, Merrimeg thanked 
them, very politely, and ran away home; and 
when she opened the kitchen door her mother 
was peeling the potatoes for supper. 

“Why, Merrimeg!” said her mother. 
“Wherever have you been? I’ve been looking 
for you everywhere. Will you sit down and 
finish peeling these potatoes for me?” 

“Yes, mother,” said Merrimeg. 




MERRIMEG AND THE 
MAY-DEW 






























MERRIMEG AND THE MAY-DEW 


D ON’T be long,’’ said Merrimeg’s mother. 

“No, mother,” said Merrimeg, and she 
ran off down the village street, into the woods. 

It was May-day, and she was going May-dew¬ 
ing. You know if you wash your face with dew, 
early on May-morning, it will keep you fair and 
sweet to look on, almost forever. That is what 
she was going to do. 

She didn’t do it at once, however, because she 
had to run after a good many rabbits and squir¬ 
rels. She stopped out of breath beside a pretty 
little brook, and then she bethought herself that 
she hadn’t yet washed her face with May-dew. 
The woods were all about her, and the brook was 
dropping down over its stones between moss and 
ferns. It was singing a little song to itself. 
Merrimeg stopped to listen. She dipped her bare 
foot in the water, and as she did so she noticed 


142 


MERRIMEG 


that there was a waterfall, quite a tall one, a 
little way up the stream, pouring down smoothly 
into a pool. 

She thought she might as well wash her face 
now with dew, and she stooped down. At that 
moment the song of the brook became quite loud, 
and she looked up in surprise. From the pool 
at the bottom of the waterfall a head was looking 
out at her, the head of a little girl. 

The head nodded at her. Merrimeg stared 
with both eyes. The head rose up, and the next 
moment the little girl that it belonged to was 
standing in shallow water to her knees. She 
was singing. She was making precisely the same 
sound as the brook itself, only louder. 

She was smaller than Merrimeg. If she 
hadn’t been so pale, she would have been very 
pretty indeed. What looked like the stubs of two 
wings stuck out a trifle from her shoulder-blades. 
Her little slim body was glistening wet. 

She stopped singing, and the instant she did 
so the brook stopped singing too. It positively 
fell silent as a pond. 


THE MAY-DEW 


143 


“I know who you are,” said the little girl. 
“You’re Merrimeg.” 

“Are you—?” said Merrimeg. “Are you 
a—?” 

“Yes, of course. I live under the waterfall. 
I’m Myrma. I’m the fairy of this brook. I’m 
the one that makes it sound as if the brook was 
singing. You know the brook can’t sing, really; 
it’s me. Do you want to hear me do it?” 

Merrimeg said “Yes,” and came closer to her. 
Myrma the fairy opened her mouth, and the 
sound she made was exactly the little song of a 
brook, and it seemed to come from the brook 
itself. She stopped, and the brook was silent 
again. 

“It’s terribly tiresome,” said Myrma, “but I 
only have to do it when there’s somebody around 
to hear it. You don’t think the brook sings all 
the time, do you?” 

“I didn’t know,” said Merrimeg. 

“When there’s nobody to hear it, what’s the 
use? But I’m supposed to keep it up as long 
as there’s anybody around. Oh, dear, I get so 


144 


MERRIMEG 


tired hiding away behind the waterfall when 
people come. I just couldn’t help coming out to 
see you. Do you like me?” 

“Yes,” said Merrimeg. 

“I like you too. Would you—do you think 
you could—kiss me?” 

Merrimeg waded in to her and kissed her on 
the cheek. She gave a great sigh. 

“Now you’ve made me warm all over. I wish 
you’d stay with me. I can show you things, lots 
of things. Wouldn’t you like to see them?” 

“What kind of things?” 

“Oh, all kinds. But you haven’t washed your 
face with May-dew yet, have you?” 

“No.” 

“Because that would spoil it. Give me your 
hand, and I’ll take you back there behind the 
waterfall.” 

“Oh,” said Merrimeg. “I couldn’t—I—” 

“Come along. Back of the waterfall I’ll show 
you lots of things. Hold my hand tight. That’s 
right. Here we go. ” 

She pulled Merrimeg along to the waterfall. 


THE MAY-DEW 


145 


“Stoop down,” she said, and pulled Merrimeg 
head-foremost into it. The water pounded on 
Merrimeg’s back, and she gasped for breath. 
The next moment she was through on the other 
side. 

“Oh!” she cried. “I mustn’t! I must go 
back!” 

“Please do come along with me,” said Myrma, 
and held her hand tight. 

It was pitch dark. Merrimeg was rather 
frightened, but she was very curious too. She 
let herself be led onward, and in a few moments 
they began to go down hill. For a long, long 
time they walked down hill, in the pitch dark. 
The way became steeper and steeper. “I’m 
afraid,” whispered Merrimeg. “Why, it’s per¬ 
fectly safe,” said Myrma. “I only hope no¬ 
body’ll come to the brook while I’m away.” 

They were deep, deep down in the earth when 
they stopped. Myrma seemed to push against 
something, and in a moment a door opened, and 
she drew Merrimeg through. 

On the other side—really, it didn’t seem pos- 



146 


MERRIMEG 


sible there could be such a place, so deep under¬ 
ground. It was a long and beautiful valley, with 
a blue roof high overhead, exactly like the sky. 
A road ran down the valley between meadows all 
spangled with daisies and buttercups. The light 
that spread everywhere was the soft light of 
early morning. Here and there in the meadows 
were blossoming trees, a lovely mass of pink and 
white. The scent of honeysuckle came on the 
cool breeze. 

“Isn’t it lovely!” said Merrimeg. 

“Of course,” said Myrma. “It’s always 
lovely in springtime. I think he’ll be here in a 
minute.” 

“Who?” said Merrimeg. 

“Old Porringer. He runs the stage-coach. 
He ought to be here by this time—Here he 
comes!” 

Down the road came a little glass coach, drawn 
by a pair of tiny white ponies. On the coach¬ 
man’s seat was a little old man with a white 
beard. “Whoa!” he piped up, and drew in the 
ponies. Merrimeg laughed at the sight of this 


THE MAY-DEW 


147 


little coach, made all of glass, and the cunning 
little ponies, and the funny little old coachman. 

“Anything to laugh at?” said the old coach¬ 
man, sitting up straight. 

4 'Never mind, Porringer,” said Myrma. "We 
want to take a trip with you.” 

"Where do you want to stop?” said Old Por¬ 
ringer. 

"At number fifteen, number thirty-five, and 
number eighty,” said Myrma. 

"Jump in then,” said Old Porringer, and 
flourished his little whip. 

Myrma opened the door of the glass coach, and 
the two little girls got in and sat down. The 
ponies pranced, the coachman touched them up 
with his whip, and away they went at a smart 
trot down the road. Merrimeg laughed with 
glee. 

“Now aren’t you glad you came with me?” 
said Myrma. 

"Do you suppose he’d let us drive the ponies?” 
said Merrimeg. 

"Oh no,” said Myrma. "He has to be very 


148 


MERRIMEG 


careful. There are bad creatures along the road, 
and they try to break the glass, and he has to 
watch out for them. If they break it to pieces 
before he gets to the end of the road, it’ll be a 
bad thing for you. They do, sometimes. You 
never can tell.” 

“Oh!” said Merrimeg, a little alarmed. 

“All you have to do is to have a good time, 
and leave it to him. He always has to start out 
each time with a new coach, because the old one 
is broken to pieces by the time he gets to the end 
of the road. But the less you think about it the 
better. Just look at those buttercups in the 
meadow! I know how to tell whether you like 
butter.” 

The coach sped merrily along, and the little 
girls chattered gaily. Once there sprang up be¬ 
side the road an ugly little imp with big ears, who 
threw a stone after them; but Old Porringer 
whipped up the ponies, and the stone missed the 
coach. The little girls laughed. 

Merrimeg grew drowsy after a while, with the 
easy motion of the coach and the soft spring air, 


THE MAY-DEW 


149 


and at last she put her head back and went to 
sleep. She was awakened once by the sound of 
breaking glass, and she found that a stone had 
come through a corner of the coach; but it didn’t 
seem to matter, and she went to sleep again. 

The next thing she knew, Myrma was shaking 
her arm. 4 4 We’re going to stop now,” said 
Myrma, and Merrimeg sat up and rubbed her 
eyes. 

She found she was looking into a mirror, 
which she hadn’t noticed before, hanging oppo¬ 
site her in the coach. She saw herself in it. She 
was a grown girl, seemingly about fifteen years 
old, and her hair was done in a pigtail, and her 
dress was down to her ankles. She was carrying 
school-books in her arm. 

She wasn’t the least bit surprised, strange to 
say. It seemed as if she had always been as old 
as that. She didn’t realize that it must have 
been years and years since she started on this 
journey. Could she have been asleep all that 
time ? However, all she was thinking about was, 
that if you multiplied a + b by a — b, what was 


150 


MERRIMEG 


the answer? She was about to open one of her 
school books, when the coach stopped, and they 
got out before a large building which had a sign 
on it with the number “15.” 

Boys and girls of her own age were going into 
this building. Myrma followed her in, but Mer- 
rimeg quite forgot about her companion. She 
seemed to know exactly what to do. She 
walked down a hall and into a schoolroom, and 
sat down at a desk. Other boys and girls were 
at their desks, and the teacher, a tall lady with 
spectacles, was writing with chalk on a black¬ 
board. 

Merrimeg felt a tug at her pigtail, and she 
turned round quickly. The boy at the desk be¬ 
hind her was gazing hard at a book in his hand. 
He was a jolly-looking boy. 

“Did you pull my hair, Peter Prawn?” she 
said to him, in great indignation. 

The boy looked up innocently. “Who, me?” 
he said. 

“Yes, you,” she said. “If you do that once 
more, I’ll—I’ll— You’re just horrid, and I 


THE MAY-DEW 151 

wish you wouldn’t ever speak to me again. So 
there.” 

Master Peter laughed, and this made her 
angrier still. But she couldn’t help thinking 
what a jolly laugh it was. 

44 Order!” said the teacher. 4 ‘The class in 
algebra will come to order. Answer to your 
names as I call the roll.” 

Chalk, blackboard, a + ~b, x — y, teacher hand¬ 
ing out papers, boys jDlaying tricks, girls passing 
notes,—all this dragged on forever and forever, 
and there didn’t seem to be any hope of ever 
getting out; but a bell rang at last, and school 
was over. 

The glass coach was waiting outside. Merri- 
meg noticed that it was broken in several places. 
Myrma took her hand, and they sat down inside 
the coach. Old Porringer touched up his ponies, 
and away they ran, faster than before. 

“What’s the matter with your hair?” said 
Myrma. 

Merrimeg looked at the end of her pigtail, and 
it was all green. 


152 


MERRIMEG 


“Oh, it’s that horrid boy,” she said. “He’s 
dipped it in his ink-well. I’ll never never speak 
to him again.” 

The ponies trotted much faster down the 
valley now. The blossoms had dropped from 
the trees, and the air was warmer and the 
light brighter. Merrimeg yawned and closed 
her eyes. “I think I’ll take a little nap,” she 
said. 

When she woke up, the mirror was before her 
again, and she looked at herself in it. She was a 
grown woman. Her hair was coiled at the back 
of her head. She was tall and slender, and her 
head nearly touched the roof of the coach. She 
looked as if she might have been about thirty- 
five years old. Myrma looked very tiny beside 
her. The coach was badly broken, in many 
places. 

“Now we’re going to get out,” said Myrma, 
and the coach stopped before a pretty little cot¬ 
tage covered with vines. Over the door was the 
number, “35.” 

“I’ll wait for you here,” said Myrma, and 


THE MAY-DEW 153 

Merrimeg gathered up her skirts and ran to the 
cottage door. 

4 4 Peter! ’ ’ she cried; and the door opened, and 
a jolly-looking young man, of about her own age, 
opened the door and took her into his arms. He 
had very nice laughing eyes. 

4 4 Dearest!” he said. 

4 4 Oh, Peter!” she said. 4 4 Is he better 

now?” 

44 Yes, darling, it’s only measles. Nothing to 
worry about.” 

4 4 Mother! Mother! ’ ’ came two voices from in¬ 
side, and a boy of ten and a girl of seven ran 
out and threw their arms about her. She kissed 
them both, and they all went in together. 

A little boy of three or four was lying in his 
crib, in a darkened room, and she leaned over 
him and squeezed his hot little hand. 

44 Mother,” he said, 44 1 want a drink of water.” 

44 You shall have it, darling,” she said; but 
Peter, her husband, had already gone for it, and 
when he brought it, she said to him: 

4 4 Now, Peter, you and the children must stay 


154 MERRIMEG 

out of this room. Has Maggie brought the clean 
sheets yet?” 

“She never does,” said Peter, “not unless you 
go after them first.” 

“Then Ill just go and get them; and remem¬ 
ber to keep the children out of here while I’m 
gone. ’ ’ 

“Hadn’t I better go for you?” 

“No, I want to see her about the napkins too. 
I won’t be long.” 

She kissed him, and patted the little boy in 
the crib, and waved good-bye to the other two 
children, and ran out to the coach. 

“Good-bye, dear little family!” she cried, and 
got into the coach. “I’ll be back directly!” 

Old Porringer touched up his ponies, and they 
bounded away. 

“I’ll tell him where to stop,” said Merrimeg 
to Myrma. “I wonder why it is that washer¬ 
women are always so unreliable.” 

It was very hot in the valley now. The weeds 
by the roadside were tall, and bees were buzzing 
over the clover in the fields. It was midsummer. 


THE MAY-DEW 


155 


The valley was narrower than before; hills were 
rising more abruptly on either side. The ponies 
ran faster and faster. 

“It does get so hot here in the summer,” 
said Merrimeg. “It’s very trying for the chil¬ 
dren, especially when they’re sick.” She 
yawned. “I’ve been up so much lately with the 
baby. But I mustn’t go to sleep.” She closed 
her eyes, just to keep the light out; the motion of 
the coach was very soothing; her head fell for¬ 
ward on her breast; she was sound asleep. 

She must have slept a long, long while. She 
awoke with a shiver. It was snowing. The glass 
coach was broken, almost to pieces. The cold 
wind blew the snow in upon her. It was growing 
dark, but she could make out that high and 
gloomy mountains hemmed in the road closer and 
closer on each side. The ponies sped so swiftly 
that they seemed to be flying. 

She looked at herself in the mirror opposite. 
She was old, very old. Her face was wrinkled, 
but there was something sweet about it, too. 
Her hair was snow-white, brushed smoothly 


156 


MERRIMEG 


from a part in the middle. Her hands were 
knotted and trembling, and they rested together 
on the head of a cane. She wore a dress of plain 
black silk, with lace about the neck. She was 
quite small and bent. How many years she must 
have been asleep in the coach! But she didn’t 
think of that. 

“We’re nearly at the end of the road,” said 
Myrma. 

“Yes, yes, my child,” said Merrimeg. “It’s 
good to be there at last.” 

“We have to pass the giant, and then we’ll be 
safe,” said Myrma. 

As she said this, a great dark figure rose up 
beside the road, and hurled with both hands a 
mighty rock straight at the coach. The mirror 
and all the front of the coach were struck into a 
thousand splinters. Merrimeg laughed gently. 
“Nothing can harm me,” she said. 

“That’s the last,” said Myrma. “Now we’ve 
escaped them all. We’ll get to the end of the 
road in safety.” 

“I can’t help thinking,” said the old lady, 


THE MAY-DEW 


157 


6c that it’s rather a frail coach for such a hard 
journey. It really ought to be made of iron.” 
She smiled, as though she were alluding to the 
mistake of a careless child. It was plain that she 
was not at all unhappy about it. 

The coach stopped. A great wall of rock rose 
up darkly, just ahead. It was the end of the 
road. 

They stepped out onto the snowy ground, and 
Merrimeg turned round to say good-bye. The 
old coachman touched his cap with his whip. 
The ponies arched their necks and bowed and 
pawed the ground. There was nothing left of 
the coach’s body except the seats. 

Myrma took the old lady’s hand, and pointed 
towards a lighted window which glowed in the 
darkness. 

“Yes, I know,” said Merrimeg. 

They stood before an old, old house, with a 
knocker on the door. Over the knocker was the 
number “80.” 

“Come in,” said Myrma, and she opened the 
door. 


158 


MERRIMEG 


Inside was a warm and cosy room. Candles 
were glimmering on a polished table, and a 
fire was sparkling on the open hearth. A 
grandfather’s clock was going tick-tock in 
the corner. 

Merrimeg gave a sigh of contentment. She sat 
down in an easy chair before the fire, and sat 
there nodding her head at it and smiling to her¬ 
self. Her cane was resting against her knee. 
Her old hands were folded in her lap. 

“Bring them in,” she said, and Myrma went 
out through a rear door. 

In a moment there were children’s voices in 
the room, crying “ Grandmother! ” and half a 
dozen boys and girls, big and little, were sitting 
round her on the floor, looking up at her fondly. 
She laid her hand on the head of the littlest, and 
smoothed his curls. But she kept nodding at 
the fire all the while, as if her thoughts were 
far off. 

“Mother,” said some grownup voices, and two 
young men and a young woman stood beside her, 
leaning down to her fondly. Still she kept smil- 


THE MAY-DEW 159 

ing at the fire, as if she were thinking of some¬ 
thing else. 

“It’s time for Peter to come,” she said in a 
low voice, as if to herself. “He ought to be with 
me now.” 

The grownups looked at ea«h other and shook 
their heads. 

“I remember,” she said, “how he used to tease 
me in school. Once he dipped my hair in the 
green ink. Well, well. I used to get very angry 
with him. But I think I was only pretending.” 

Her head sank down a little on her breast. 

“He had such nice laughing eyes when he was 
a boy. I suppose that’s what made me love him 
first.” 

She folded her hands again in her lap, and her 
head sank lower on her breast. 

“There’s no need to worry about the baby, 
Peter. I ’ll sit up with him to-night. You must 
go to bed now. You won’t be fit for anything to¬ 
morrow if you don’t.” 

Her voice was not more than a whisper now. 

“No, I’m not sorry about anything. Every- 


160 


MERRIMEG 


thing’s been all right. I’ve had you, and that’s 
enough. No, you mustn’t say that. Trouble? 
Yes, but love makes even that beautiful too.” 

She raised her head and gazed into the fire, 
and then closed her eyes. 

4 ‘He’ll be here in time. He won’t leave me at 
the end of the road alone. I’m there now, Peter. 
Yes. I do see you. It’s all right now.” 

Her head began to droop down, little by little, 
onto her breast; and as it was sinking, sink¬ 
ing, a new voice sounded in the room, and it 
said: 

“I believe it is, brother, I believe it is.” 

“You’re always right, brother,” said another 
voice. 

“Have you got the May-dew?” said the first 
voice. 

“Right here, in the little bottle.” 

‘ t Then pour it out in my hand. ’ ’ 

It was Malkin and Nibby, the gnomes, and 
brother Nibby was holding out a little bottle 
filled with what looked like water. He poured 
out a little into the hollow of brother Malkin’s 



“HAVE YOU GOT THE MAY-DEW!” 































THE MAY-DEW 163 

hand. Brother Malkin rubbed it gently on the 
old lady’s cheek. 

As he did so, all the others faded away out of 
sight, and left the gnomes and Merrimeg alone 
in the room. 

Brother Nibby poured out more of the May- 
dew into brother Malkin’s hand, and Malkin 
rubbed it gently over the poor wrinkled old face. 
The face began to take on color, and the wrinkles 
began to disappear. 

“More, brother,” said Malkin. 

In another moment the May-dew was all used 
up. The instant it was gone—well, Merrimeg 
herself, a little girl, her own little self, rosy- 
cheeked, barefoot, lively as a lark, was sitting 
in the chair before the fire. She jumped down 
and cried out: 

“What have you been doing to me, you 
naughty gnomes?” 

“Rather cross to-day,” said Malkin. 

“No, please, tell me! I’m sorry,” said Mer¬ 
rimeg. 

“You tell her,” said Malkin. 



164 


MERRIMEG 


“I think you’re the one to tell her, brother,” 
said Nibby. “You’re so—” 

“What did you have in that bottle f ” said Mer- 
rimeg, rather impatiently. 

“I thought she knew we had May-dew in it,” 
said Malkin. 

“Yes, I certainly thought she knew that,” said 
Nibby. 

“Have you been washing my face with May- 
dew?” said Merrimeg. 

“I should think she’d know that without being 
told; wouldn’t you, brother Nibby?” said 
Malkin. 

“I should certainly think so, if you ask me,” 
said Nibby. 

“Then let’s start home at once!” cried Mer¬ 
rimeg. “Mother will be worried if I’m later 
than usual. Come along!” 

Through the rear door they found their way 
to a cave in the mountain, and at the end of this 
cave they found an underground stream, and 
beside this stream they found the gnomes’ canoe. 
They were in it in a jiffy, and in another jiffy 


THE MAY-DEW 165 

the gnomes were paddling up stream for dear 
life. 

“Here we are,” said Malkin at last, and they 
got out at the bottom of a ladder that climbed 
the wall of their tunnel. At the top of the ladder 
Malkin pushed open a trapdoor, and they all 
went up through the opening into the gnomes' 
kitchen. 

“I suppose we ought to invite her to stay and 
rest,” said Malkin. 

“Just what I was going to say, if you hadn’t 
taken the words out of my mouth,” said Nibby. 
“Suppose you—” 

“Oh no, thank you, I can’t,” said Merrimeg. 
“But I’m ever so much obliged to you, just the 
same, and now I’ve got to run home in a hurry.” 

“Quite polite, after all, brother,” said Malkin. 

“Just what I was thinking,” said Mbby. 

“Good-bye!” cried Merrimeg, and went up the 
ladder to the trapdoor in the ceiling and out into 
the world. The sun was shining and the squir¬ 
rels were scampering up the trees and the birds 
were singing and— Away she flew as fast as 


166 


MERRIMEG 


her feet would carry her, through the woods and 
down the village street and in at the back door of 
her own house. 

“Well!” said her mother, taking her hands 
out of the dough. “You must have gone to the 
end of the word and back!” 

“Yes’m,” said Merrimeg. 

“Did you get your face washed with May- 
dew?” 

“Yes, mother,” said Merrimeg. 
















































































































































































































